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To 



Hamlet 
Edwin Booth 

or )iot to be : that is the question. 

— Act in. 



Scene i, 



K\)t acatremg Classics 



SHAKESPEARE 

HAMLET 



EDITED WITH A LIFE OF SHAKESPEARE, AN ACCOUNT OF 

THE THEATRE IN HIS TIME, AND ' NUMEROUS 

AIDS TO -THE STUDY OF THE PLAY 



BY 



SAMUEL THURBER, Jr. 

NEWTON TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL 

AND 

A. B. DE MILLE 

SECRETARY OF THE NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION 
OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH 



I/' 



i 
ALLYN AND BACON 

BOSTON NEW YORK ' CHICAGO 

ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO 






COPYRIGHT, 1922 
BY SAMUEL THURBER, JR. 



1 



AUG \'ci%27 

Nortooott press 

J. S. Gushing Co. —Berwick & Smith Co. 

NorT^ood, Mass., U.S.A. 



-> PCUe81433 



(p9i-^ 



FOREWORD 

In revising the edition of "Hamlet" published by Sam- 
uel Thurber in 1897, the editors have been influenced by 
changed conditions of English teaching in high schools 
since his work was done. The number of pupils has enor- 
xnously increased and as a consequence reference mate- 
rial has become inadequate to the demand, literary prep- 
aration has grown to be more general and less specialized, 
while boys and girls of the present day have broader aims 
and ideals. These conditions call for a different type of 
annotation from that of twenty-five years ago. 

Recent problems arising from the study of "Hamlet" 
with college preparatory, commercial, and technical 
classes, have led to the inclusion in the present edition of 
certain features not to be found in the original work. It 
has been the aim of the editors to provide such equip- 
ment as may make possible a thorough study of the play 
even in cases where libraries are restricted or not acces- 
sible. Among the new features thus provided are the 
following : fuller and more informational notes ; a discus- 
sion of the sources of the play; a list of familiar quota- 
tions from "Hamlet"; an account of Shakespeare the 
man — his life, work, reputation — and the theatre for 
which he wrote ; a hst of practical, usable topics for oral 
and written composition ; suggestions as to the acting 
of portions of Shakespeare's plays by boys and girls; 
and finally, a glossary for use in a rapid reading of the 

iii 



Foreword. 

tragedy. This new matter will be found in the appen- 
dix following the text of the play. 

To the following firms we would express our thanks for 
courteous privileges extended in the use of copyrighted 
material : Messrs. Henry Holt and Company, selections 
from '' Shakespeare's Workmanship," by Sir A. T. 
Quiller-Couch, and from " Ten More Plays of Shake- 
speare," by Professor Stopford Brooke ; The Oxford 
University Press, a passage from Mr. G. S. Gordon's 
Introduction to his edition of "Hamlet." 

It is hoped that this additional material will not only 
increase the interest of the student, but that it will also 
lighten the labor of the teacher. 

SAMUEL THURBER, Jr. 
A. B. DE MILLE. 



IV 



CONTENTS 



List of Illustrations . 
Milton's Sonnet on Shakespeare 
List oe Characters 



PAGE 

vii 



HAMLET 



IX 

xi, 141 



1 



Appendix 

Origin and Publication of " Hamlet ' 
The Meter of "Hamlet" . 
Stage History of "Hamlet " 
Comments on the Characters 
Familiar Passages in "Hamlet" 
What We Know about Shakespeare 
Shakespeare's Plays and Poems 
Shakespeare's Popularity in His Own Day 
Shakespeare's Fame since His Death 
The Theatre of Shakespeare's Day . 
Acting Shakespeare .... 
Suggested Scenes for Dramatization . 
Books of Interest to Students of Shakespeare 



Explanatory Notes 

Subjects tor Oral and Written Composition 
Glossary of Difficult or Unusual Words 



143 
159 
166 
169 
182 
187 
200 
214 
219 
228 
250 
257 
259 

261 
353 
363 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 





Edwin Booth as Hamlet 




To he, or not to he: 
Who 's there ? 


that is the question. 

— Act III, Scene i . 

— Act I, Scene i 


Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 
1 



Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio. 

— Act I, Scene i 3 

But I have that within which passeth show; 
These hut the trappings and the suits of woe. 

— Act I, Scene 2 10 

The air hites shrewdly; it is very cold. 

— Act I, Scene 4 22 

Sent to my account 
With all my imperfections on my head. . 

— Act I, Scene 5 28 

Slanders, sir. 

— Act II, Scene 2 44 

There is a kind of confession in your looks which your modesties 
have not craft enough to color. 

— Act II, Scene 2 47 

Forbes-Robertson as Hamlet 

The Play 's the thing 
Wherein I 'II catch the conscience of the king. 

— Act II, Scene 2 57 

I was the more deceived. 

— Act III-, Scene i . . . ' . .62 

vii 



List of Illustrations. 



What, frighted with false fire ! after page 

— Act III, Scene 2 74 

Give me some light : away ! 

— Act III, Scene 2 74 

Noiv might I do it pat, noiv he is praying. facing page 

— Act III, Scene 3 . . „ . .81 

On him, on him ! Look you how pale he glares ! 

— Act III, Scene 4 . . . . .87 

There 's rosemary, that '5 for remembrance. 

— Act IV, Scene 5 104 

* A grave- maker ' : the houses that he makes last till doomsday. 

— Act V, Scene i 116 

Alas, poor Yorick ! 

— Act V, Scene i 120 

Come on, sir. 

— Act V, Scene 2 135 

Shakespeare's House at Stratford-on-Avon .... 190 
The Room Where Shakespeare Was Born .... 190 

Anne Hathaway's Cottage at Shottery 192 

Interior of Anne Hathaway's Cottage 192 

Holy Trinity Parish Church, Stratford-on-Avon . . .198 

Inscription on Shakespeare's Tomb 198 

Inscription on Shakespeare's Monument, Trinity Church, 

Stratford-on-Avon . 198 

The Globe Theatre . .236 

Interior of an Elizabethan Theatre ...... 236 



Vlll 



SHAKESPEARE 

What needs my Shakespeare for his honored bones 

The labor of an age in piled stones ? 

Or that his hallowed reliques should be hid 

Under a star-3^ointing pyramid ? 

Dear son of memory, great heir of fame, 

What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name? 

Thou in our wonder and astonishment 

Hast built thyself a live-long monument. 

For whilst to the shame of slow-endeavoring art 

Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart 

Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book 

Those Delphic lines with deep impression took, 

Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving. 

Dost make us marble with too much conceiving ; 

And, so sepulchred, in such pomp dost lie 

That kings for such a tomb would wish to die. 

JOHN MILTON. 



ix; 



HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK. 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 



Claudius, king of Denmark. 
Hamlet, son to the late, and 

nephew to the present king. 
PoLONius, lord chamberlain. 
Horatio, friend to Hamlet. 
Laertes, son to Polonius. 
voltimand, 
Cornelius, 
rosencrantz, 
guildenstern 

OSRIC, 

A Gentleman, 

A Priest. 

Marcellus, 1 „ 
-r, > ofi&cers 

Bernardo, J 



> courtiers. 



Francisco, a soldier. 

Reynaldo, servant to ' Polonius. 

Players. 

Two Clowns, Grave-diggers. 

FoRTiNBRAS, prince of Norway. 

A Captain. 

English Ambassadors. 

Gertrude, queen of Denmark, 

and mother to Hamlet. 
Ophelia, daughter to Polonius. 
Lords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers, 

Sailors, Messengers, and 

other Attendants. 
Ghost of Hamlet's Father. 
Scene : Denmark. 



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ACT I. 

Scene I. Elsinore. A platform before the castle. 

Francisco at his post. Enter to him Bernardo. 

Ber. Who 's there? 

Fran. Nay, answer me : stand, and unfold yourself. 

Ber. Long live the king 1 

Fran. Bernardo? 

Bet. He. s 

Fran. You come most carefully upon your hour. 

Ber. 'T is now struck twelve ; get thee to bed, Fran- 
cisco. 

Fran. For this relief much thanks: 't is bitter cold. 
And I am sick at heart. 

Ber. Have you had quiet guard ? 

Fran. Not a mouse stirring. lo 

Ber. Well, good night. 
If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, 
The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste. 

Fran. I think I hear them. Stand, ho ! Who 's 
there ? 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus. 

Hor. Friends to this ground. 

Mar. And liegemen to the Dane. 15 

Fran. Give you good night. 

Mar. O, farewell, honest soldier : 

Who hath relieved you ? 

Fran. Bernardo has my place. 

Give you good night. [Exit. 

I 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene i. 

Mar. Holla! Bernardo! 

Ber. Say, 

What, is Horatio there ? 

Hor. A piece of him, 

Ber. Welcome, Horatio : welcome, good Marcellus. 20 

Mar. What, has this thing appeared again to-night ? 

Ber. I have seen nothing. 

Mar. Horatio says 't is but our fantasy, 
And will not let belief take hold of him 
Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us : 25 

Therefore I have entreated him along 
With us to watch the minutes of this night ; 
That if again this apparition come. 
He may approve our eyes and speak to it. 

Hor. Tush, tush, 't will not appear. 

Ber. Sit down awhile ; 30 

And let us once again assail your ears, 
That are so fortified against our story 
What we have two nights seen. 

Hor. Well, sit we down. 

And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. 

Ber. Last night of all, 35 

When yond same star that 's westward from the pole 
Had made his course to illume that part of heaven 
Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself, 
The bell then beating one, — 

Enter Ghost. 

Mar. Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes 
again ! 40 

Ber. In the same figure, like the king that 's dead. 

2 




Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio. 



Act I. Scene i. 



Act I, Scene 1. ^ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 



Mar. Thou art a scholar ; speak to it, Horatio. 

Ber. Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio. 

Hor. Most like : it harrows me with fear and wonder. 

Ber. It would be spoke to. 

Mar. Question it, Horatio. as 

Hor. What art thou that usurp'st this time of night, 
Together with that fair and warlike form 
In which the majesty of buried Denmark 
Did sometimes march ? by heaven I charge thee, speak ! 

Mar. It is offended. 

Ber. See, it stalks away 1 so 

Hor. Stay ! speak, speak ! I charge thee, speak ! 

[Exit Ghost. 

Mar. 'T is gone, and will not answer. 

Ber. How now, Horatio ! you tremble and look pale : 
Is not this something more than fantasy? 
What think you on 't? ss 

Hor. Before my God, I might not this believe 
Without the sensible and true avouch 
Of mine own eyes. 

Mar. Is it not like the king? 

Hor. As thou art to thyself : 
Such was the very armor he had on 60 

When he the ambitious Norway combated ; 
So frowned he once, when, in an angry parle, 
He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice : 
'T is strange. 

Mar. Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, 
With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. 66 

Hor. In what particular thought to work I know not ; 
But in the gross and scope of my opinion, 

3 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene i. 

This bodes some strange eruption to our state. 

Mar. Good now, sit down, and tell me he that knows, 
Why this same strict and most observant watch yj 

So nightly toils the subject of the land, 
And why such daily cast of brazen cannon. 
And foreign mart for implements of war ; 
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task 75 

Does not divide the Sunday from the week ; 
What might be toward, that this sweaty haste 
Doth make the night joint-laborer with the day 
Who is 't that can inform me ? 

Hor. That can I ; 

At least, the whisper goes so. Our last king, 80 

Whose image even but now appeared to us. 
Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, 
Thereto pricked on by a most emulate pride. 
Dared to the combat ; in which our valiant Hamlet — 
For so this side of our known world esteemed him — 85 
Did slay this Fortinbras ; who, by a sealed compact, 
Well ratified by law and heraldry, 
Did forfeit, with his Hfe, all those his lands 
Which he stood seized of, to the conqueror : 
Against the which, a moiety competent 90 

Was gaged by our king ; which had returned 
To the inheritance of Fortinbras, 
Had he been vanquisher ; as, by the same covenant, 
And carriage of the article designed. 

His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras, 9s 

Of unimproved mettle hot and full. 
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there 
Sharked up a list of lawless resolutes, 

4 



Act I, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

For food and diet, to some enterprise 

That hath a stomach in 't ; which is no other — loo 

As it doth well appear unto our state — 

But to recover of us, by strong hand 

And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands 

So by his father lost : and this, I take it, 

Is the main motive of our preparations, 105 

The source of this our watch and the chief head 

Of this post-haste and romage in the land. 

Ber. I think it be no other but e'en so : 
Well may it sort that this portentous figure 
Comes armed through our watch ; so like the king no 

That was and is the question of these wars. 

Hor. A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye. 
In the most high and pahny state of Rome, 
A httle ere the mightiest Juhus fell, 

The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead ns 

Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets : 
As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, 
Disasters in the sun ; and the moist star 
Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands 
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse : 120 

And even the like precurse of fierce events, 
As harbingers preceding still the fates 
And prologue to the omen coming on, 
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated 
Unto our cHmatures and countrymen. — 12s 

But soft, behold ! lo, where it comes again ! 

Re-enter Ghost. 

I'U cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion! 

S 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. x\ct i, Scene i. 

If thou hast any sound, or use of voice, 

Speak to me : 

If there be any good thing to be done, 130 

That may to thee do ease and grace to me, 

Speak to me : [Cock crows. 

If thou art privy to thy country's fate. 

Which, happily, foreknowing may avoid, 

O, speak ! 135 

Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy hfe 

Extorted treasure in the womb of earth, 

For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, 

Speak of it : stay, and speak ! Stop it, Marcellus. 

Mar. Shall I strike at it with my partisan ? 140 

Hor. Do, if it will not stand. 

Ber. 'T is here ! 

Hor. 'T is here ! 

Mar. 'T is gone ! [Exit Ghost. 

We do it wrong, being so majestical. 
To offer it the show of violence ; 

For it is, as the air, invulnerable, 14s 

And our vain blows mahcious mockery. 

Ber. It was about to speak, when the cock crew. 

Hor. And then it started Hke a guilty thing 
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard. 
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, iso 

Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat 
Awake the god of day ; and, at his warning, 
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, 
The extravagant and erring spirit hies 
To his confine : and of the truth herein iss 

This present object made probation. 

6 



Act I, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark, 

Mar. It faded on the crowing of the cock. 
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes 
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, 
The bird of dawning singeth all night long : i6o 

And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad ; 
The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike, 
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm. 
So hallowed and so gracious is the time. 

Hor. So have I heard and do in part believe it. 165 

But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, 
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill : 
Break we our watch up ; and by my advice. 
Let us impart what we have seen to-night 
Unto young Hamlet ; for, upon my life, 170 

This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. 
Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it, 
As needful in our loves, fitting our duty? 

Mar. Let 's do 't, I pray ; and I this morning know 
Where we shall find him most conveniently. [Exeunt. 175 

Scene IL A room of state in the castle. 

Enter the King, Queen, Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes, 
VoLTiMAND, Cornelius, Lords, and Attendants. . 

King. Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death 
The memory be green, and that it us befitted 
To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom 
To be contracted in one brow of woe, 
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature 5 

That we with wisest sorrow think on him, 
Together with remembrance of ourselves. 

• 7 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 2. 

Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, 
The imperial jointress to this warlike state, 
Have we, as 't were with a defeated joy, — 10 

With one auspicious and one dropping eye, 
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage. 
In equal scale weighing delight and dole, — 
Taken to wife : nor have we herein barred 
Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone is 

With this affair along. For all, our thanks. 
Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras, 
Holding a weak supposal of our worth. 
Or thinking by our late dear brother's death 
Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, 20 

Colleagued with the dream of his advantage, 
He hath not failed to pester us with message, 
Importing the surrender of those lands 
LobL by his father, with all bonds of law. 
To our most valiant brother. So much for him. 25 

Now for ourself and for this time of meeting : 
This much the business is : we have here writ 
To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras, — 
Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears 
Of this his nephew's purpose, — to suppress 30 

His further gait herein ; in that the levies, 
The lists and full proportions, are all made 
Out of his subject : and we here dispatch 
You, good CorneHus, and you, Voltimand, 
For bearers of this greeting to old Norway ; as 

Giving to you no further personal power 
To business with the king, more than the scope 
Of these dilated articles allow. 

8 



Act I, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty. 

y / \ In that and all things will we show our duty. 40 

King. We doubt it nothing : heartily farewell. 

[Exeunt VoUimand and Cornelius. 
And now, Laertes, what 's the news with you? 
You told us of some suit ; what is 't, Laertes? 
You cannot speak of reason to the Dane, 
And lose your voice : what wouldst thou beg, Laertes, 45 
That shall not be my offer, not thy asking? 
The head is not more native to the heart. 
The hand more instrumental to the mouth. 
Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father. 
What wouldst thou have, Laertes? 

Laer. My dread lord, so 

Your leave and favor to return to France ; 
From whence though willingly I came to Denmark, 
To show my duty in your coronation. 
Yet now, I must confess, that duty done. 
My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France ss 

And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon. 

King. Have you your father's leave? What says 
Polonius ? 

Pol. He hath, my lord, wrung from me my slow 
leave 
By laborsome petition, and at last 

Upon his will I sealed my hard consent : 60 

I do beseech you, give him leave to go. 

King. Take thy fair hour, Laertes ; time be thine, 
And thy best graces spend it at thy will ! 
But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son, — . 

9 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 2. 

Ham. [Aside] A little more than kin, and less than 
kind. 6s 

King. How is it that the clouds still hang on you ? 

Ham. Not so, my lord ; I am too much i' the sun. « 

Queen. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, 
And let thine eye look hke a friend on Denmark. 
Do not forever with thy vailed hds 70 

Seek for thy noble father in the dust : 
Thou know'st 't is common : all that lives must die, 
Passing through nature to eternity. 

Ham. Ay, madam, it is common. 

Queen. If it be, 

Why seems it so particular with thee ? 7s 

Ham. Seems, madam ! nay, it is ; I know not ' seems.' 
'T is not alone my inky cloak, good mother. 
Nor customary suits of solemn black. 
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath. 
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 80 

Nor the dejected 'havior of the visage. 
Together with all forms, moods, shows of grief, 
That can denote me truly : these indeed seem, 
For they are actions that a man might play : 
But I have that within which passe th show ; 8s 

These but the trappings and the suits of woe. 

King. 'T is sweet and commendable in your nature, 
Hamlet, 
To give these mourning duties to your father : 
But, you must know, your father lost a father ; 
That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound 90 

In fiHal obligation for some term 
To do obsequious sorrow : but to persever 

10 



Act I, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

In obstinate condolement is a course 

Of impious stubbornness ; 't is unmanly grief ; 

It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, 9S 

A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, 

An understanding simple and unschooled : 

For what we know must be and is as common 

As any the most vulgar thing to sense. 

Why should we in our peevish opposition loo 

Take it to heart ? Fie ! 't is a fault to heaven, 

A fault against the dead, a fault to natiu-e. 

To reason most absurd ; whose common theme 

Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried. 

From the first corse till he that died to-day, los 

* This must be so.' We pray you, throw to earth 

This unpre vailing woe, and think of us 

As of a father : for let the world take note, 

You are the most immediate to our throne ; 

And with no less nobility of love no 

Than that which dearest father bears his son, 

Do I impart toward you. For your intent 

In going back to school in Wittenberg, 

It is most retrograde to our desire : 

And we beseech you, bend you to remain ns 

Here, in the cheer and comfort of our eye. 

Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son. 

Queen. Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet: 

I pray thee, stay with us ; go not to Wittenberg. 
Ham, I shall in all my best obey you, madam. 120 

King. Why, 't is a loving and a fair reply : 

Be as ourself in Denmark. Madam, come ; 

This gentle and unforced accord of Hamlet 

H 



Hamlet, Prince o^ Denmark. Act i, Scene 2. 

Sits smiling to ij ^ar' : in grace whereof, 

No jocund health that Denmark drinks to-day, 12s 

But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell. 

And the king's rouse the heavens shall bruit again, 

Re-speaking earthly thunder. Com.e away. 

[Exeunt all but Hamlet. 
Ham. O, that this too too sohd flesh would melt, 
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew ! 130 

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed 
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter ! O God ! God ! 
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable. 
Seem to me all the uses of this world ! 
Fie o^ 't ! ah fie ! 't is an unweeded garden, 13s 

That grows to seed ; things rank and gross in nature 
Possess it merely. That it should come to this ! 
But two months dead : nay, not so much, not two : 
So excellent a king ; that was, to this, 
Hyperion to a satyr ; so loving to my mother 140 

That he might not beteem the, winds of heaven 
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth I 
Must I remember ? why, she would hang on him, 
As if increase of appetite had grown 

By what it fed on : and yet, within a month — 14s 

Let me not think on 't — Frailty, thy name is woman ! — 
A little month, or ere those shoes were old 
With which she followed my poor father's body. 
Like Niobe, all tears : — why she, even she — 
O God ! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, 150 

Would have mourned longer — married with my uncle, 
.My father's brother, but no more like my father 
Than I to Hercules : within a month : 

12 



Act I, Scene 2. Hamlc^tj, Pjciiice of Denmark. 

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteo}is 1 

Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, 155 

She married. O, most wicked speed ! 

It is not nor it cannot come to good : 

But break my heart ; for I must hold my tongue. 

Enter Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo. 

Hor. Hail to your lordship ! 

Ham. I am glad to see you well : 

Horatio, — or do I forget myseK. 160 

Hor. The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever. 

Ham. Sir, my good friend ; I '11 change that name with 
you: 
And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio ? 
Marcellus ? 

Mar. My good lord — 165 

Ham. I am very glad to see you. Good even, sir. 
But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg? 

Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord. 

Ham. I would not hear your enemy say so. 
Nor shall you do mine ear that violence, 170 

To make it truster of your own report 
Against yourself : I know you are no truant. 
But what is your affair in Elsinore ? 
We '11 teach you to drink deep ere you depart. 

Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral. 17s 

Ham. I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow-student ; 

I think it was to see my mother's wedding. 
Hor. Indeed, my lord, it followed hard upon. 

Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio 1 the funeral baked 

II meats 

13 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 2. 

Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. i8o 

Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven 
Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio ! 
My father I — ■ methinks I see my father, 

Eor. Where, my lord ? 

Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio. 

Hor. I saw him once ; he was a goodly king. i8s 

Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again. 

Hor. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. 

Ham. Saw? who? 

Hor. My lord, the king, your father. 

Ham. The king my father I 190 

Hor. Season your admiration for a while 
With an attent ear, till I may deliver, 
Upon the witness of these gentlemen, 
This marvel to you. 

Ham. For God's love, let me hear. 

Hor. Two nights together had these gentlemen, 19s 

Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch. 
In the dead vast and middle of the night. 
Been thus encountered. A figure like your father, 
Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pe, 

Appears before them, and with solemn march 200 

Goes slow and stately by them : thrice he walked 
By their oppressed and fear-surprised eyes. 
Within his truncheon's length ; whilst they, distilled 
Almost to jelly with the act of fear, 

Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to me 20s 

In dreadful secrecy impart they did ; 
And I with them the third night kept the watch : 

14 



Act I, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

Where, as they had deUvered, both in time, 
Form of the thing, each word made true and good, 
The apparition comes : I knew your father ; 210 

These hands are not more like. 

Ham. But where was this? 

Mar. My lord, upon the platform where we 
watched. 

Ham. Did you not speak to it ? 

Hot. . My lord, I did ; 

But answer made it none : yet once me thought 
It lifted up its head and did address 215 

Itself to motion, like as it would speak ; 
But even then the morning cock crew loud. 
And at the sound it shrunk in haste away. 
And vanished from our sight. 

Ham. 'T is very strange. 

Hor. As I do live, my honored lord, 't is true ; 220 

And we did think it writ down in our duty 
To let you know of it. 

Ham. Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me. 
Hold you the watch to-night ? 

^^7 ^^ ^^' "^^ ^^^^' 

Ham. Armed, say you ? 225 

„ ' Armed, my lord. 

Ham. From top to toe ? 

„ ' \ - My lord, from head to foot. 
Ber. J -^ ' 

Ham. Then saw you not his face ? 

Hor. O, yes, my lord ; he wore his beaver up. ' 

15 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 2. 

Ham. What, looked he frowningly? 230 

Hot. a countenance more in sorrow than in anger. 

Ham. Pale or red ? 

Hot. Nay, very pale. • 

Ham. And fixed his eyes upon you ? 

Hor. Most constantly. 

Ham. I would I had been there. 

Hor. It would have much amazed you. 23s 

Ham. Very like, very like. Stayed it long ? 

Hor. While one with moderate haste might tell a 

hundred. 
Mar. 



^^^ i Longer, longer. 

Hor. Not when I saw 't. 

Ham. His beard was grizzled, — no ? 

Hor. It was, as I have seen it in his life, 240 

A sable silvered. 

Ham. I will watch to-night ; 

Perchance 't will walk again. 

Hor. I warrant it will. 

Ham. If it assume my noble father's person, 
I '11 speak to it though hell itself should gape 
And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, 24s 

If you have hitherto concealed this sight. 
Let it be tenable in your silence stiU ; 
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night. 
Give it an understanding, but no tongue : 
I will requite your loves. So, fare you well : 250 

Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve, 
I '11 visit you. 

All. Our duty to your honor. 

16 



Act I, Scene 3. Hamlet, Pniice of Denmark. 

Ham. Your loves, as mine to you : farewell. 

[Exeunt all hut Hamlet. 
My father's spirit in arms ! all is not well ; 
I doubt some foul play : would the night were come ! 255 
Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will rise, 
Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. 

[Exit. 
Scene III. A room in Polonius' house. 
Enter Laertes and Ophelia. 

Laer. My necessaries are embarked : farewell: 
And, sister, as the winds give benefit 
And convoy is assistant, do not sleep. 
But let me hear from you. 

Oph. Do you doubt that? 

Laer. For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor, s 

Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, 
A violet in the youth of primy nature, 
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, 
The perfume and suppHance of a minute ; 
No more. 

Oph. No more but so? 

Laer. Think it no more : 10 

For nature, crescent, does not grow alone 
In thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes, 
The inward service of the mind and soul 
Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now, 
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch is 

The virtue of his wiU : but you must fear. 
His greatness weighed, his will is not his own ; 
For he himself is subject to his birth : 

17 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 3. 

He may not, as unvalued persons do, 

Carve for himself ; for on his choice depends 20 

The safety and the health of this whole state ; 

And therefore must his choice be circumscribed 

Unto the voice and yielding of that body 

Whereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves you, 

It fits your wisdom so far to believe it 25 

As he in his particular act and place 

May give his saying deed ; which is no further 

Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal. 

Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain, 

If with too credent ear you list his songs, 30 

Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open 

To his unmastered importunity. 

Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister. 

And keep you in the rear of your affection, 

Out of the shot and danger of desire. ss 

The chariest maid is prodigal enough. 

If she unmask her beauty to the moon : 

Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes : 

The canker galls the infants of the spring, 

Too oft before their buttons be disclosed, 40 

And in the morn and liquid dew of youth 

Contagious blastments are most imminent. 

Be wary then ; best safety lies in fear : 

Youth to itself rebels, though none else near. 

Oph. I shall the effect of this good lesson keep, 4S 

A watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, 
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do. 
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven; 
Whiles, like a puffed and reckless hbertine, 

18 



Act I, Scenes. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Himself the primrose path of daUiance treads, so 

And recks not his own rede. 

Laer. O, fear me not. 

I stay too long : but here my father comes. 

Enter Polonius. 

A double blessing is a double grace ; 
Occasion smiles upon a second leave. 

Pol. Yet here, Laertes ! aboard, aboard, for shame! 55 
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail. 
And you are stayed for. There; my blessing with 

thee ! 
And these few precepts in thy memory 
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, 
Nor any unproportioned thought his act. 60 

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. 
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel ; 
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 
Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade. Beware 65 

Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in. 
Bear 't that the opposed may beware of thee. 
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice ; \ 
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. 
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 70 

But not expressed in fancy ; rich, not gaudy ; 
For the apparel oft proclaims the man, 
A nd they in France of the best rank and station 
Arc most select and generous in that. 
Nei^er a borrower nor a lender be ; 7S 

For Idfean oft loses both itself and friend, 

19 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 3. 

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 

This above all : to thine own self be true, j 

And it must follow, as the night the day, \i 

Thou canst not then be false to any man; If 80 

Farewell : my blessing season this in thee ! 

Laer. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord. 

Pol. The time invites you ; go ; your servants tend. 

Laer. Farewell, Ophelia ; and remember well 
What I have said to you. 

Oph. 'T is in my memory locked, 85 

And you yourself shall keep the key of it. 

Laer. Farewell. [Exit. 

Pol, What is 't, Ophelia, he hath said to you? 

Oph. So please you, something touching the Lord 
Hamlet. 

Pol. Marry, well bethought : 90 

'T is told me, he hath very oft of late 
Given private time to you ; and you yourself 
Have of your audience been most free and bounteous : 
If it be so, as so 't is put on me. 
And that in way of caution, I must tell you, 
You do not understand yourself so clearly 
As it behoves my daughter and your honor. 
W^hat is between you ? give me up the truth. 

Oph. He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders 
Of his affection to me. 

Pol. Affection ! pooh I you speak like a green girl. 
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. 
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? 

Oph. I do not know, my lord, what I should thinky 

Pol. Marry, I '11 teach you : think yourself a bal>,y ; 105 

20 



/ 



I 



Act I, Scene 3. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, 
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly ; 
Or — not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, 
Running it thus — you '11 tender me a fool. 

Oph. My lord, he hath importuned me with love no 
In honorable fashion. 

Pol. Ay, fashion you may call it ; go to, go to. 

Oph. And hath given countenance to his speech, my 
lord. 
With almost all the holy vows of heaven. 

Pol. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know, ns 
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul 
Lends the tongue vows : these blazes, daughter, 
Giving more Hght than heat, extinct in both, 
Even in their promise, as it is a-making, 
You must not take for fire. From this time 120 

Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence ; 
Set your entreatments at a higher rate 
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet, 
Believe so much in him, that he is young. 
And with a larger tether may he walk 125 

Than may be given you : in few, Ophelia, 
Do not believe his vows ; for they are brokers. 
Not of that dye which their investments show, 
But mere implorators of unholy suits. 
The better to beguile. This is for all : 130 

I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth. 
Have you so slander any moment's leisure, 
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. 
Look to 't, I charge you : come your ways. 

Oph. I shall obey, my lord. [Exeunt, izs 

21 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 4. 

Scene IV. The platform. 
Enter Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus. 

Ham. The air bites shrewdly ; it is very cold. 

Hor. It is a nipping and an eager air. 

Ham. What hour now ? 

Hor. I think it lacks of twelve. 

Ham. No, it is struck. 

Hor. Indeed ? I heard it not : then it draws near the 
season s 

Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk. 

[A flourish of trumpets, and ordnance shot of, within. 
What does this mean, my lord? 

Ham. The king doth wake to-night and takes his rouse, 
Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-spring reels ; 
And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down, lo 

The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out 
The triumph of his pledge. 

Hor. Is it a custom ? 

Ham. Ay, marry, is 't : 
But to my mind, though I am native here 
And to the manner born, it is a custom 15 

More honored in the breach than the observance. 
This heavy-headed revel east and west 
Makes us traduced and taxed of other nations : 
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase 
Soil our addition ; and indeed it takes 20 

From our achievements, though performed at height, 
The pith and marrow of our attribute. 
So, oft it chances in particular men. 
That for some vicious mole of nature in them, 

22 



Act I, Scene 4. Hamlet, PHncc of Denmark. 

As, in their birth — wherein they are not guilty, 25 

Since nature cannot choose his origin — 

By the o'er growth of some complexion, 

Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, 

Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens 

The form of plausive manners, that these men, 30 

Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect. 

Being nature's livery, or fortune's star, — 

Their virtues else — be they as pure as grace, 

As infinite as man may undergo — 

Shall in the general censure take corruption 35 

From that particular fault : the dram of eale 

Doth all the noble substance of a doubt 

To his own scandal. 

Hor. Look, my lord, it comes ! 

Enter Ghost. 

Ham. Angels and ministers of grace defend us ! 
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned, 40 

Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell. 
Be thy intents wicked or charitable. 
Thou comest in such a questionable shape 
That I will speak to thee : I '11 call thee Hamlet, 
King, father, royal Dane : O, answer me ! 4s 

Let me not burst in ignorance ; but tell 
Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in death. 
Have burst their cerements ; why the sepulchre, 
Wherein we saw thee quietly inurned. 
Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws, so 

To cast thee up again. What may this mean. 
That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel . 

23 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 4. 

Revisit'st thus the ghmpses of the moon, 

Making night hideous ; and we fools of nature 

So horridly to shake our disposition ss 

With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? 

Say, why is this ? wherefore? what should we do ? 

[Ghost beckons Hamlet. 

Hor. It beckons you to go away with it, 
As if it some impartment did desire 
To you alone. 

Mar. Look, with what courteous action 60 

It waves you to a more removed ground : 
But do not go with it. 

Hor. No, by no means. 

Ham. It will not speak ; then I will follow it. 

Hor. Do not, my lord. 

Ham. Why, what should be the fear? 

I do not set my hfe at a pin's fee ; 6s 

And for my soul, what can it do to that, 
Being a thing immortal as itself ? 
It waves me forth again : I '11 follow it. 

Hor. What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord. 
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff 70 

That beetles o'er his base into the sea, / 

And there assume some -other horrible form. 
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reasoi 
And draw you into madness ? think of it : 
The very place puts toys of desperation, / ' 7S 

Without more motive, into every brain 
That looks so many fathoms to the sea 
And hears it roar beneath. 

Ham. It waves me still. 

24 



Act I, Scene 5. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

Go on ; I 'U follow thee. 

Mar. You shall not go, my lord. 

Ham. Hold off your hands. 80 

Hor. Be ruled; you shall not go. 

Ham. My fate cries out, 

And makes each petty artery in this body 
As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve. 
Still am I called. Unhand me, gentlemen. 
By heaven, 1 '11 make a ghost of him that lets me ! 85 

I say, away ! Go on : I '11 follow thee. 

[Exeunt Ghost and Hamlet. 

Hor. He waxes desperate with imagination. 

Mar. Let 's follow ; 't is not fit thus to obey him. 

Hor. Have after. To what issue will this come? 

Mar. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. ' 90 

Hor. Heaven will direct it. 

Mar. Nay, let 's follow him. [Exeunt, 

Scene V. Another part of the platform. 
Enter Ghost and Hamlet. 

Ham. Where wilt thou lead me ? speak ; I '11 go no 
further. 

Ghost. Mark me. 

Ham. I will. 

Ghost. My hour is almost come 

When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames 
Must render up myself. 

Ham. Alas, poor ghost ! 

Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing 5 
To what I shall unfold. 

Ham. Speak ; I am bound to hear. 

25 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 5. 

Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear. 

Ham. What? 

Ghost. I am thy father's spirit, 
Doomed for a certain term to walk the night, lo 

And for the day confined to fast in fires. 
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature 
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid 
To tell the secrets of my prison-house, 
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word is 

Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood. 
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, 
Thy knotted and combined locks to part 
And each particular hair to stand an end. 
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine : 20 

But this eternal blazon must not be 
To ears of flesh and blood. List, hst, O, list ! 
If thou didst ever thy dear father love — 

Ham. OGod! 

Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. 25 

Ham. Murder ! 

Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is ; 
But this most foul, strange and unnatural. 

Ham. Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift 
As meditation or the thoughts of love, 30 

May sweep to my revenge. 

Ghost. I find thee apt ; 

And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed 
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, 
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear : 
'T is given out that, sleeping in my orchard, 3S 

A serpent stung me ; so the whole ear of Denmark 

26 



Act I, Scene 5. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Is by a forged process of my death 
Rankly abused : but know, thou noble youth, 
The serpent that did sting thy father's life 
Now wears his crown. 

Ham. O my prophetic soul ! 40 

My uncle ! 

Ghost. Ay, that Hcentious, that adulterate beast, 
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts, — 
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power 
So to seduce ! — won to his shameful lust 45 

The will of my most seeming- virtuous queen : 

Hamlet, what a falling-off was there ! 
From me, whose love was of that dignity 
That it went hand in hand even with the vow 

1 made to her in marriage, and to decline 50 
Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor 

To those of mine ! 

But virtue, as it never will be moved, 
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven. 
So lust, though to a radiant angel linked, $5 

Will sate itself in a celestial bed. 
And prey on garbage. 

But, soft ! methinks I scent the morning air ; 
Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard. 
My custom always in the afternoon, 60 

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole. 
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, 
And in the porches of my ears did pour 
The leperous distilment ; whose effect 
Holds such an enmity with blood of man 65 

That swift as quicksilver it courses through 

27 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 5. 

The natural gates and alleys of the body, 
And with a sudden vigor it doth posset 
And curd, like eager droppings into milk, 
The thin and wholesome blood : so did it mine ; 70 

And a most instant tetter barked about, 
Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, 
All my smooth body. 
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand 
Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatched : 7s 

Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, 
Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled. 
No reckoning made, but sent to my account 
With all my imperfections on my head : 
O, horrible ! O, horrible ! most horrible ! 80 

If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not ; 
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act. 
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive 
Against thy mother aught : leave her to heaven 
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, 85 

To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once ! 
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near. 
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire : 
Adieu, adieu ! Hamlet, remember me. , [Exit. 89 

Ham. O all you host of heaven ! O earth ! what else ? 
And shall I couple hell ? O, fie ! Hold, hold, my heart ; 
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old. 
But bear me stifHy up. Remember thee! 
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat 
In this distracted globe. Remember thee ! 9S 

Yea, from the table of my memory 
I '11 wipe away all trivial fond records, 

28 




Sent to my account 
With all my imperfections on my head. 



Act I. Scene 5. 



Act I, Scene 5. Hamlet, Pritice of Denmark. 

All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, 

That youth and observation copied there ; 

And thy commandment all alone shall hve loo 

Within the book and volume of my brain, 

Unmixed with baser matter : yes, by heaven ! 

O most pernicious woman ! 

villain, villain, smiling, damned villain ! 

My tables, — meet it is I set it down, los 

That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain ; 

At least I 'm sure it may be so in Denmark : [Writing. 

So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word ; 

It is ' Adieu, adieu ! remember me.' 

1 have sworn 't. no 

^^^' \ [Within] My lord, my lord, — 
Hor. J 

Mar. [Within] Lord Hamlet, — 

Hor. [Within] Heaven secure him ! 

Ham. So be it I 

Hor. [Within] Hillo, ho, ho, my lord ! 

Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy ! come, bird, come. 

Enter Horatio and Marcellus. 

Mar. How is 't, my noble lord ? 

Hor. What news, my lord ? ns 

Ham . O , wonderful ! 

Hor. Good my lord, tell it. 

Ham. No ; you '11 reveal it. 
Hor. Not I, my lord, by heaven. 
Mar. Nor I, my lord. 

Ham. How say you, then ; would heart of man once 
think it? 

29 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act i, Scene 5. 

But you '11 be secret? 

^ * } Ay, by heaven, my lord. 120 

Ham. There 's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Denmark 
But he 's an arrant knave. 

Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the 
grave 
To tell us this. 

Ham. Why, right ; you are i' the right ; 

And so, without more circumstance at all, 12s 

I hold it fit that we shake hands and part : 
You, as your business and desire shall point you ; 
For every man has business and desire. 
Such as it is ; and for mine own poor part, 
Look you, I '11 go pray. 130 

Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. 

Ham. I 'm sorry they offend you, heartily ; 
Yes, 'faith, heartily. 

Hor. There 's no offence, my lord. 

Ham. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio, 
And much offence too. Touching this vision here, 135 
It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you : 
For your desire to know what is between us, 
O'ermaster 't as you may. And now, good friends. 
As you are friends, scholars and soldiers. 
Give me one poor request. 140 

Hor. What is 't, my lord? 'we will. 

Ham. Never make known what you have seen to-night. 

^^ ' } My lord, we will not. 
Mar. J ^ ' 

Ham. Nay, but swear 't, 

30 



Act I, Scenes. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Hor. In faith, 

My lord, not I. 

Mar. Nor I, my lord, in faith. 

Ham. Upon my sword. 

Mar. We have sworn, my lord, already. i4s 

Ham. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. 

Ghost. [Beneath] Swear. 

Ham. Ah, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, 
truepenny ? 
Come on — you hear this fellow in the cellarage — 
Consent to swear. 

Hor. Propose the oath, my lord. iso 

Ham. Never to speak of this that you have seen, 
Swear by my sword. 

Ghost. [Beneath] Swear. 

Ham. Hie et ubique ? then we '11 shift our ground. 
Come hither, gentlemen, iss 

And lay your hands again upon my sword : 
Never to speak of this that you have heard, 
Swear by my sword. 

Ghost. [Beneath] Swear. 

Ham. Well said, old mole ! canst work i' the earth so 
fast ? i6o 

A worthy pioner ! Once more remove, good friends. 

Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous strange ! 

Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. 
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 165 

But come ; 

Here, as before, never, so help you mercy, 
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself, 

31 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene l. 

As I perchance hereafter shall think meet 
To put an antic disposition on, 170 

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, 
With arms encumbered thus, or this head-shake, 
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase. 
As ' Well, well, we know,' or, ' We could, an if we would,' 
Or ' If we list to speak', or ' There be, an if they might,' 
Or such ambiguous giving out, to note i76 

That you know aught of me : this not to do, 
So grace and mercy at your most need help you, 
Swear. 
Ghost. [Beneath] Swear. 180 

Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! [They swear.] So, 
gentlemen. 
With all my love I do commend me to you : 
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is 
May do, to express his love and friending to you, 
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together ; 185 
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray. 
The time is out of joint : O cursed spite. 
That ever I was born to set it right I 
Nay, come, let 's go together. [Exeunt. 

ACT II. 

Scene I. A room in Polonius' house. 

Enter Polonius and Reynaldo. 

Pol. Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo. 

Rey. I will, my lord. 

Pol. You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo, 

32 



Act II, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 



Before you visit him, to make inquire 
Of his behavior. 

Rey. My lord, I did intend it. s 

Pol. Marry, well said ; very well said. Look you, sir,. 
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris ; 
And how, and who, what means, and where they keep, 
What company, at what expense ; and finding 
By this encompassment and drift of question lo 

That they do know my son, come you more nearer 
Than your particular demands will touch it : 
Take you, as 't were, some distant knowledge of him ; 
As thus, ' I know his father and his friends. 
And in part him : ' do you mark this, Reynaldo? is 

Rey. Ay, very well, my lord. 

Pol. 'And in part him ; but' you may say 'not well : 
But, if 't be he I mean, he 's very wild ; 
Addicted so and so : ' and there put on him 
What forgeries you please ; marry, none so rank 20 

As may dishonor him ; take heed of that ; 
But, sir, such wanton, wild and usual slips 
As are companions noted and most known 
To youth and liberty. 

Rey. As gaming, my lord. 

Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling, 25 
You may go so far. 

Rey. My lord, that would dishonor him. 

Pol. 'Faith, no ; as you may season it in the charge. 
You must not put another scandal on him. 
That he is open to incontinency ; 30 

That 's not my meaning : but breathe his faults so quaintly 
That they may seem the taints of liberty, 

33 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act II, Scene 1. 

The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind, 

A savageness in unreclaimed blood, 

Of general assault. 

• Rey. But, my good lord, — as 

Pol. Wherefore should you do this? 

Rey. Ay, my lord, 

I would know that. 

Pol. Marry, sir, here 's my drift ; 

And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant : 
You laying these slight sullies on my son. 
As 't were a thing a httle soiled i' the working, 40 

Mark you, 

Your party in converse, him you would sound. 
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes 
The youth you breathe of guilty, be assured 
He closes with you in this consequence ; 4S 

' Good sir,' or so, or ' friend,' or ' gentleman,' 
According to the phrase or the addition 
Of man and country. 

Rey. Very good, my lord. 

Pol. And then, sir, does he this — he does — what was 
I about to say? By the mass, I was about to say some- 
thing : where did I leave? si 

Rey. At ' closes in the consequence,' at ' friend or so,' 
and ' gentleman.' 

Pol. At ' closes in the consequence,' ay, marry ; 
He closes thus : ' I know the gentleman ; 55 

I saw him yesterday, or t' other day, 
Or then, or then ; with such, or such ; and, as you say. 
There was a' gaming ; there o'ertook in 's rouse ; 
There falling out at tennis : ' see you now ; 

34 



Act II, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth : 60 

And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, 

With windlasses and with assays of bias, 

By indirections find directions out : 

So by my former lecture and advice, ) 

Shall you my son. You have me, have you not? 65 

Rey. My lord, I have. 

Pol. God be wi' you ; fare you well. 

Rey. Good my lord ! 

Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself. 

Rey. I shall, my lord. 

Pol. And let him ply his music. 

Rey. Well, my lord. 70 

Pol. Farewell ! [Exit Reynaldo. 

Enter Ophelia. 

How now, Ophelia ! what's the matter? 

Oph. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted ! 

Pol. With what, i' the name of God ? 

Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, 
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced ; 7S 

No hat upon his head ; his stockings fouled, 
Ungartered and down-gyved to his ancle ; 
Pale as his shirt ; his knees knocking each other ; 
And with a look so piteous in purport 
As if he had been loosed out of hell 80 

To speak of horrors, — he comes before me. 

Pol. Mad for thy love ? 

Oph. My lord, I do not know ; 

But truly, I do fear it. 

Pol. What said he? 

35 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene i. 



Oph. He took me by the wrist and held me hard ; 
Then goes he to the length of all his arm ; 8s 

And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow, 
He falls to such perusal of my face 
As he would draw it. <Long stayed he sO ; 
At last, a little shaking of mine arm 
And thrice his head thus waving up and down, 90 

He raised a sigh so piteous and profound 
That it did seem to shatter all his bulk 
And end his being : that done, he lets me go : 
And, with his head over his shoulder turned. 
He seemed to find his way without his eyes ; 9s 

For out o' doors he went without their help, 
And, to the last, bended their hght on me. 

Pol. Come, go with me : I will go seek the king. 
This is the very ecstasy of love, 

Whose violent property fordoes itself 100 

And leads the will to desperate undertakings 
As oft as any passion under heaven 
That does afflict our natures. I am sorry. 
What, have you given him any hard words of late ? 

Oph. No, my good lord, but, as you did command, 105 
I did repel his letters and denied 
His access to me. 

Pol. That hath made him mad. 

I am sorry that with better heed and judgment 
I had not quoted him : I feared he did but trifle, 
And meant to wreck thee ; but, beshrew my jealousy ! no 
By heaven, it is as proper to our age 
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions 
As it is common for the younger sort 

36 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king : "4 

This must be known ; ^ which, being kept close, might move 
More grief to hide than hate to utter love. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. A room in the castle. 

Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and 
Attendants. 

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern! 
Moreover that we much did long to see you, 
The need we have to use you did provoke 
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard 
Of Hamlet's transformation ; so call it, s 

Sith nor the exterior nor the inward man 
Resembles that it was. What it should be. 
More than his father's death, that thus hath put him 
So much from the understanding of himself, 
I cannot dream of : I entreat you both, lo 

That being of so young days brought up with him, 
And sith so neighbored to his youth and humor 
That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court 
Some Uttle time : so by your companies 
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather, 15 

So much as from occasion you may glean. 
Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus, 
That, opened, Ues within our remedy. 

Queen. Good gentlemen, he hath much talked of you ; 
And sure I am two men there are not Hving 20 

To whom he more adheres. If it will please you 
To show us so much gentry and good will 
As to expend your time with us awhile. 
For the supply and profit of our hope, 

37 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

Your visitation shall receive such thanks 25 

As fits a king's remembrance. 

Ros. Both your majesties 

Might, by the sovereign power you have of us, 
Put your dread pleasures more into command 
Than to entreaty. 

Guil. But we both obey, 

And here give up ourselves, in the full bent 30 

To lay our service freely at your feet. 
To be commanded. 

King. Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern. 

Queen. Thanks, Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz. 
And I beseech you instantly to visit ss 

My too much changed son. Go, some of you. 
And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is. 

Guil. Heavens make our presence and our practices 
Pleasant and helpful to him ! 

Queen. Ay, amen ! 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and some Attendants. 

Enter Polonius. 

Pol. The ambassadors from Norway, my good lord, 40 
Are joyfully returned. 

King. Thou still hast been the father of good news. 

Pol. Have I, my lord? I assure you, my good 
liege, 
I hold my duty, as I hold my soul. 

Both to my God, and to my gracious king : 4S 

And I do think, or else this brain of mine 
Hunts not the trail of poHcy so sure 
As it hath used to do, that I have found 

38 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy. 

King. O, speak of that ; that do I long to hear. so 

Pol. Give first admittance to the ambassadors ; 
My news shall be the fruit to that great feast. 

King. Thyself do grace to them, and bring them in. 

[Exit Polonius. 
He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found 
The head and source of all your son's distemper. ss 

Queen. I doubt it is no other but the main ; 
His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage. 

King. Well, we shall sift him. 

Re-enter Polonius, with Voltimand and Cornelius. 

Welcome, my good friends! 
Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway? 

Volt. Most fair return of greetings and desires. 60 

Upon our first, he sent out to suppress 
His nephew's levies ; which to him appeared 
To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack ; 
But, better looked into, he truly found 
It was against your highness : whereat grieved, 6s 

That so his sickness, age and impotence 
Was falsely borne in hand, sends out arrests 
On Fortinbras ; which he, in brief, obeys ; 
Receives rebuke from Norway, and in fine 
Makes vow before his uncle never more 70 

To give the assay of arms against your majesty. 
Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy, 
Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee, 
And his commission to employ those soldiers, 
So levied as before, against the Polack : . 7S 

39 



HamJet, Prince of Denmark. /Vct ii, Scene 2. 

With an entreaty, herein further shown, [Giving a paper. 
That it might please you to give quiet pass 
Through your dominions for his enterprise, 
On such regards of safety and allowance 
As therein are set down. 

King. It hkes us well ; 80 

And at our more considered time we 'U read. 
Answer, and think upon this business. 
Meantime we thank you for your well-took labor : 
Go to your rest ; at night we 'U feast together ; 
Most welcome home ! 

[Exeunt VoUimand and Cornelius. 

Pol. This business is well ended ^ 8s 

My liege, and madam, to expostulate 
What majesty should be, what duty is, 
Why day is day, night night, and time is time. 
Were nothing but to waste night, day and time. 
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, f 90 

And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, 
I will be brief : your noble son is mad : 
Mad call I it ; for, to define true madness. 
What is 't but to be nothing else but mad? 
But let that go. 

Queen. More matter, with less art. 9S 

Pol. Madam, I swear I use no art at all. 
That he is mad, 't is true : 't is true 't is pity; 
And pity 't is 't is true : a foolish figure ; 
But farewell it, for I will use no art. 
Mad let us grant him, then : and now remains 100 

That we find out the cause of this effect. 
Or rather say, the cause of this defect, 

40 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

For this effect defective comes by cause : 

Thus it remains, and the remainder thus. 

Perpend. los 

I have a daughter — have while she is mine — 

Who, in her duty and obedience, mark, 

Hath given me this : now gather, and surmise. [Reads. 

' To the celestial and my soul's idol, the most beautified 

OpheHa,' — no 

That 's an ill phrase, a vile phrase ; ' beautified ' is a vile 
phrase : but you shall hear. Thus : [Reads. 

' In her excellent white bosom, these, &c.' 

Queen. Came this from Hamlet to her? 

Pol. Good madam, stay awhile ; I will be faithful, us 

[Reads. 
* Doubt thou the stars are fire ; 

Doubt that the sun doth move ; 
Doubt truth to be a Har ; 

But never doubt I love. 1^9 

' O dear OpheHa, I am ill at these numbers ; I have not 
art to reckon my groans: but that I love thee best, 
O most best, beheve it. Adieu. 

' Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst this machine 
is to him, Hamlet.' 
This, in obedience, hath my daughter shown me, 125 

And more above, hath his soHcitings, 
As they fell out by time, by means and place, 
All given to mine ear. 

King. But how hath she 

Received his love ? 

Pol. What do you think of me? 

King. As of a man faithful and honorable. 130 

41 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

Pol. I would fain prove so. But what might you think 
When I had seen this hot love on the wing — 
As I perceived it, I must tell you that, 
Before my daughter told me — what might you, 
Or my dear majesty your queen here, think, 135 

If I had played the desk or table-book, 
Or given my heart a winking, mute and dumb, 
Or looked upon this love with idle sight ; 
What might you think? No, I went round to work. 
And my young mistress thus I did bespeak : 140 

. ' Lord Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star ; 
This must not be : ' and then I precepts gave her, 
That she should lock herself from his resort. 
Admit no messengers, receive no tokens. 
Which done, she took the fruits of my advice ; 14s 

And he, repulsed — a short tale to make — 
Fell into a sadness, then into a fast. 
Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, 
Thence to a lightness, and, by this declension, 
Into the madness wherein now he raves, 150 

And all we mourn for. 

King. Do you think 't is this? 

Queen. It may be, very likely. 

Pol. Hath there been such a time — I 'd fain know 
that — 
That I have positively said ' 'T is so,' 
When it proved otherwise ? 

King. Not that I know. 155 

Pol. [Pointing to his head and shoulder] Take this from 
this, if this be otherwise : 
If circumstances lead me, I will find 

42 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed 
Within the centre. 

King. How may we try it further? 

Pol. You know, sometimes he walks four hours 
together i6o 

Here in the lobby. 

Queen. So he does indeed. 

Pol. At such a time I '11 loose my daughter to him : 
Be you and I behind an arras then ; 
Mark the encounter : if he love her not 
And be not from his reason fallen thereon, i6s 

Let me be no assistant for a state. 
But keep a farm and carters. 

King. We will try it. 

Queen. But, look, where sadly the poor wretch comes 
reading. 

Pol. Away, I do beseech you, both away : 
I '11 board him presently. 

[Exeunt King, Queen, and Attendants. 

Enter Hamlet reading. 

O, give me leave : 170 
How does my good lord Hamlet ? 

Ham. Well, God-a-mercy. 

Pol. Do you know me, my lord? 

Ham. Excellent well ; you are a fishmonger. 

Pol. Not I, my lord. 17s 

Ham. Then I would you were so honest a man. 

Pol. Honest, my lord ! 

Ham. Ay, sir ; to be honest, as this world goes, is to 
be one man picked out of ten thousand. 

43 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

Pol. That 's very true, my lord. iSo 

Ham. For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, 
being a god kissing carrion, — Have you a daughter? 

Pol. I have, my lord. 

Ham. Let her not walk i' the sun : friend, look to 't. 

Pol. [Aside] How say you by that? Still harping 
on my daughter : yet he knew me not at first ; he said I 
was a fishmonger : he is far gone, far gone : and truly in 
my youth I suffered much extremity for love; very near 
this. I '11 speak to him again. What do you read, my 
lord ? 190 

Ham. Words, words, words. 

Pol. What is the matter, my lord ? 

Ham. Between who ? 

Pol. I mean, the matter that you read, my lord. 194 

Ham. Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here 
that old men have grey beards, that their faces are 
wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree 
gum and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together 
with most weak hams : all which, sir, though I most 
powerfully and potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty 
to have it thus set down, for yourself, sir, should be old 
as I am, if like a crab you could go backward. 202 

Pol. [Aside] Though this be madness, yet there is 
method in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord? 

Ham. Into my grave. 205 

Pol. Indeed, that is out o' the air. [Aside] How preg- 
nant sometimes his replies are ! a happiness that often 
madness hits on, which reason and sanity could not so 
prosperously be delivered of. I will leave him, and sud- 
denly contrive the means of meeting between him and 

44 




Slanders, sir. 

— Act II. Scene 2. 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

my daughter. — My honorable lord, I will most humbly 
take my leave of you. 212 

Ham. You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I 
will more wilhngly part withal: except my hfe, except 
my life, except my life. 215 

Pol. Fare you well, my lord. 

Ham. These tedious old fools ! 

Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Pol. You go to seek the Lord Hamlet ; there he is. 

Ros. [To Polonius] God save you, sir ! 

[Exit Polonius. 

Guil. My honored lord ! 220 

Ros. My most dear lord ! 

Ham. My excellent good friends ! How dost thou, 
Guildenstern? Ah, Rosencrantz ! Good lads, how do ye 
both? 
' Ros. As the indifferent children of the earth. 225 

Guil. Happy, in that we are not over-happy ; 
On fortune's cap we are not the very button. 

Ham. Nor the soles of her shoe ? 

Ros. Neither, my lord. 

Ham. What's the news? 230 

Ros. None, my lord, but that the world's grown 
honest. 

Ham. Then is doomsday near : but your news is not 
true. Let me question more in particular : what have 
you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of fortune, 
that she sends you to prison hither ? 236 

Guil. Prison, my lord ! 

Ham. Denmark 's a prison. 

45 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

Ros. Then is the world one. 

Ham. A goodly one ; in which there are many con- 
fines, wards and dungeons, Denmark being one o' the 
worst. 242 

Ros. We think not so, my lord. 

Ham. Why, then, 't is none to you ; for there is noth- 
ing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so : to me 
it is a prison. 246 

Ros. Why then, your ambition makes it one ; 't is too 
narrow for your mind. 

Ham. O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and 
count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I 
have bad dreams. 251 

Guil. Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very 
substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a 
dream. 

Ham. A dream itself is but a shadow. ^ss 

Ros. Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and hght 
a quahty that it is but a shadow's shadow. 

Ham. Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs 
and outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows. Shall we 
to the court ? for, by my fay, I cannot reason. 260 

^ .' > We '11 wait upon you. 

Ham. No such matter : I will not sort you with the 
rest of my servants, for, to speak to you like an honest 
man, I am most dreadfully attended. But, in the beaten 
way of friendship, what make you at Elsinore ? 265 

Ros. To visit you, my lord ; no other occasion. 

Ham. Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks; 
but I thank you : and sure, dear friends, my thanks are 

46 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, Prlnce of Denmark, 

too dear a halfpenny. Were you not sent for? Is it 
your own inclining? Is it a free visitation? Come, 
deal justly with me : come, come ; nay, speak. 271 

Guil. What should we say, my lord ? 

Ham. Why, anything, but to the purpose. You were 
sent for; and there is a kind of confession in your looks 
which your modesties have not craft enough to color : I 
know the good king and queen have sent for you. 276 

Ros. To what end, my lord? 

Ham. That you must teach me. But let me conjure 
you, by the rights of our fellowship, by the consonancy 
of our youth, by the obligation of our ever-preserved love, 
and by what more dear a better proposer could charge 
you withal, be even and direct with me, whether you 
were sent for, or no. 283 

Ros. [Aside to Guil.] What say you? 

Ham. [Aside] Nay, then, I have an eye of you. — If 
you love me, hold not off. 

Guil. My lord, we were sent for. 287 

Ham. I will tell you why; so shaU my anticipation 
prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the king and 
queen moult no feather. I have of late — but wherefore 
I know not — lost all m.y mirth, forgone all custom of 
exercises ; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposi- 
tion that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a 
sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, 
look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majesti- 
cal roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other 
thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of 
vapors. What a piece of work is a man ! how noble in 
reason ! how infinite in faculty ! in form and moving how 

47 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

express and admirable ! in action how like an angel ! in 
apprehension how Kke a god I the beauty of the world ! 
the paragon of animals ! And yet, to me, what is this 
quintessence of dust ? man delights not me : no, nor woman 
neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so. 304 

Ros. My lord, there was no such stuff in my thoughts. 

Ham. Why did you laugh then, when I said ' man 
delights not me ' ? 

Ros. To think, my lord, if you delight not in man, 
what lenten entertainment the players shall receive from 
you : we coted them on the way ; and hither are they 
coming, to offer you service. s" 

Ham. He that plays the king shall be welcome ; his 
majesty shall have tribute of me ; the adventurous knight 
shall use his foil and target; the lover shall not sigh 
gratis ; the humorous man shall end his part in peace ; 
the clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickle 
o' the sere; and the lady shall say her mind freely, or 
the blank verse shaU halt for 't. What players are 
they ? 319 

Ros. Even those you were wont to take delight in, the 
tragedians of the city. 

Ham. How chances it they travel ? their residence, 
both in reputation and profit, was better both ways. 

Ros. I think their inhibition comes by the means of 
the late innovation. 32s 

Ham. Do they hold the same estimation they did when 
I was in the city ? are they so followed ? 

Ros. No, indeed, are they not. 

Ham. How comes it ? do they grow rusty ? 

Ros. Nay, their endeavor keeps in the wonted pace : 

48 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

but there is, sir, an aery of children, little eyases, that 
cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically 
clapped for 't : these are now the fashion, and so berattle 
the common stages — so they call them — that many 
wearing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills and dare scarce 
come hither. 336 

Ham. What, are they children? who maintains 'em? 
how are they escoted? Will they pursue the quality 
no longer than they can sing? will they not say after- 
wards, if they should grow themselves to common players 
— as it is most like, if their means are no better — their 
writers do them wrong, to make them exclaim against 
their own succession? 343 

Ros. 'Faith, there has been much to do on both sides ; 
and the nation holds it no sin to tarre them to contro- 
versy : there was, for a while, no money bid for argu- 
ment, unless the poet and the player went to cuffs in the 
question. 

Ham. Is 't possible ? 
^ Guil. O, there has been much throwing about of 
brains. 351 

Ham. Do the boys carry it away ? 

Ros. Ay, that they dOj my lord; Hercules and his 
load too. 

Ham. It is not very strange ; for mine uncle is king 
of Denmark, and those that would make mows at him 
while my father hved, give twenty, forty, fifty, an hun- 
dred ducats a-piece for his picture in Httle. 'Sblood, 
there is something in this more than natural, if philoso- 
phy could find it out. 360 

[Flourish of trumpets within. 

49 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

Guil. There are the players. 

Ham. Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsinore. Your 
hands, come then : the appurtenance of v^^elcome is fash- 
ion and ceremony : let me comply with you in this garb, 
lest my extent to the players, which, I tell you, must 
show fairly outward, should more appear like entertain- 
ment than yours. You are welcome : but my uncle-father 
and aunt-mother are deceived. 

Guil. In what, my dear lord? 

Ham. I am but mad north-north-west : when the wind 
is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. 

Enter Polonius. 

Pol. Well be with you, gentlemen ! 371 

Ham. Hark you, Guildenstern ; and you too : at each 
ear a hearer: that great baby you see there is not yet 
out of his swaddling-clouts. 37s 

Ros. Happily he 's the second time come to them ; for 
they say an old man is twice a child. 

Ham. I will prophesy he comes to tell me of the 
players ; mark it. — You say right, sir : o' Monday 
morning; 'twas so indeed. 380 

Pol. My lord, I have news to tell you. 

Ham. My lord, I have news to tell you. When Ros- 
cius was an actor in Rome, — 

Pol. The actors are come hither, my lord. 

Ham. Buz, buz ! 385 

Pol. Upon mine honor, — 

Ham. Then came each actor on his ass, — • 

Pol. The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, 
comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical- 

50 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical- 
pastoral, scene individable, or poem unlimited : Seneca 
cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light. For the law 
of writ and the hberty, these are the only men. 

Ham. O Jephthah, judge of Israel, what a treasure 
hadst thou ! 395 

Pol. What a treasure had he, my lord? 

Ham. Why, 

' One fair daughter, and no more. 
The which he loved passing well.' 

Pol. [Aside] Still on my daughter. 400 

Ham. Am I not i' the right, old Jephthah? 

Pol. If you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have a daugh- 
ter that I love passing well. 

Ham. Nay, that follows not. 

Pol. WTiat follows, then, my lord? 40s 

Ham. Why, 

' As by lot, God wot,' 
and then, you know, 

' It came to pass, as most like it was,' — 
the first row of the pious chanson will show you more ; 
for look, where my abridgements come. 4" 

Enter four or five Players. 

You are welcome, masters ; welcome, all. I am glad to 
see thee well. Welcome, good friends. O, my old friend ! 
thy face is valanced since I saw thee last : comest thou 
to beard me in Denmark? What, my young lady and 
mistress ! By 'r lady, your ladyship is nearer to heaven 
than w^hen I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine. 
Pray God, your voice, like a piece of un current gold, be 

51 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

not cracked within the ring. Masters, you are all 
welcome. We'll e'en to't like French falconers, fly at 
any thing we see : we '11 have a speech straight : come, 
give us a taste of your quality; come, a passionate 
speech. 423 

First Play. What speech, my lord ? 
Ham. I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it was 
never acted ; or, if it was, not above once ; for the play, I 
remember, pleased not the million ; 't was caviare to the 
general : but it was — as I received it, and others, whose 
judgments in such matters cried in the top of mine — an 
excellent play, well digested in the scenes, set down with 
as much modesty as cunning. I remember, one said there 
were no sallets in the lines to make the matter savory, 
nor no matter in the phrase that might indict the author 
of affection; but called it an honest method, as whole- 
some as sweet, and by very much more handsome than 
fine. One speech in it I chiefly loved : 't was ^Eneas' 
tale to Dido; and thereabout of it especially, where he 
speaks of Priam's slaughter : if it hve in your memory, 
begin at this line : let me see, let me see — 

* The rugged Pyrrhus, Hke the Hyrcanian beast,' — 440 
it is not so : — it begins with Pyrrhus : — 
' The rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms, 
Black as his purpose, did the night resemble 
When he lay couched in the ominous horse. 
Hath now this dread and black complexion smeared 
With heraldry more dismal ; head to foot 446 

Now is he total gules ; horridly tricked 
With blood of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, 
Baked and impasted with the parching streets, 

52 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

That lend a tyrannous and damned light 4so 

To their lord's murder : roasted in wrath and fire, 
And thus o'er-sized with coagulate gore, 
With eyes like carbuncles, the hellish Pyrrhus 
Old grandsire Priam seeks.' 

So, proceed you. 4ss 

Pol. 'Fore God, my lord, well spoken, with good accent 

and good discretion. 

First Play. ' Anon he finds him 

Striking too short at Greeks ; his antique sword, 
RebelUous to his arm, Hes where it falls, 460 

Repugnant to command : unequal matched, 
Pyrrhus at Priam drives ; in rage strikes wide ; 
But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword 
The unnerved father falls. Then senseless Ihum, 
Seeming to feel this blow, with flaming top 46s 

Stoops to his base, and with a hideous crash 
Takes prisoner Pyrrhus' ear : for, lo ! his sword, 
Which was dechning on the milky head 
Of reverend Priam, seemed i' the air to stick : 
So, as a painted tyrant, Pyrrhus stood, 470 

And like a neutral to his will and matter, 
Did nothing. 

But, as we often see, against some storm, 
A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still, 
The bold wind speechless and the orb below 47s 

As hush as death, anon the dreadful thunder 
Doth rend the region, so, after Pyrrhus' pause, 
Aroused vengeance sets him new a-work ; 
And never did the Cyclops' hammers fall 
On Mars' s armor forged for proof eterne 480 

53 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

With less remorse than Pyrrhus' bleeding sword 

Now falls on Priam. 

Out, out, thou strumpet. Fortune ! All you gods, 

In general synod, take away her power ; 

Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel, 485 

And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven. 

As low as to the fiends ! ' 

Pol. This is too long. 

Ham. It shall to the barber's, with your beard. Prithee 
say on : he 's for a jig or a tale, or he sleeps : say on : 
come to Hecuba. 491 

First Play. ' But who, O, who had seen the mobled 
queen — ' 

Ham. ' The mobled queen ? ' 

Pol. That 's good ; ' mobled queen ' is good. 

First Play. 'Run barefoot up and down, threaten- 
ing the flames 495 
With bisson rheum ; a clout upon that head - 
Where late the diadem stood, and for a robe. 
About her lank and all o'er-teemed loins, 
A blanket, in the alarm of fear caught up ; 
Who this had seen, with tongue in venom steeped, 500 
'Gainst Fortune's state would treason have pro- 
nounced : 
But if the gods themselves did see her then 
When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport 
In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs. 
The instant burst of clamor that she made, 505 
Unless things mortal move them not at all. 
Would have made milch the burning eyes of 
heaven, 

54 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

And passion in the gods.' 

Pol. Look, whether he has not turned his color and 

has tears in 's eyes. Pray you, no more. 510 

Ham. 'T is well ; I '11 have thee speak out the rest soon. 

Good my lord, will you see the players well bestowed? 

Do you hear, let them be well used ; for they are the 

abstract and brief chronicles of the time: after your 

death you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill 

report while you live. si6 

Pol. My lord, I will use them according to their 

desert. 

Ham. God's bodykins, man, much better : use every 
man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping? 
Use them after your own honor and dignity: the less 
they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty. Take 
them in. 

Pol. Come, sirs. 524 

Ham. Follow him, friends : we '11 hear a play to-mor- 
row. [Exit Polonius with all the Players hut the First.] 
Dost thou hear me, old friend ; can you play the Murder 
of Gonzago? 

First Play. Ay, my lord. 529 

Ham. We '11 ha 't to-morrow night. You could, for a 
need, study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines, which 
I would set down and insert in 't, could you not ? 

First Play. Ay, my lord. 533 

Ham. Very well. Follow that lord ; and look you 
mock him not. [Exit First Player.] My good friends, 
I '11 leave you till night : you are welcome to Elsinore. 
Ros. Good my lord ! 537 

Ham. Ay, so, God be wi' ye ; [Exeunt Rosencrantz and 

ss 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ii, Scene 2. 

Guildenstern] Now I am alone. 
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I ! 
Is it not monstrous that this player here, S4o 

But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, 
Could force his soul so to his own conceit 
That from her working all his visage wanned, 
Tears in his eyes, distraction in 's aspect, 
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting 54S 

With forms to his conceit ? and all for nothing ! 
For Hecuba ! 

What 's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, 
That he should weep for her ? What would he do. 
Had he the motive and the cue for passion sso 

That I have ? He would drown the stage with tears 
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech. 
Make mad the guilty and appal the free. 
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed 
The very faculties of eyes and ears. sss 

Yet I, 

A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak. 
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause. 
And can say nothing ; no, not for a king. 
Upon whose property and most dear life 560 

A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward? 
Who calls me villain ? breaks my pate across ? 
Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face ? 
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the 

throat. 
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this? 56s 

Ha! 
'Swounds, I should take it : for it cannot be 

56 




Hamlet 
Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson 

The play '5 the thing 
Wherein I 7/ catch the conscience of the king. 

— Act II. 



Scene 2. 



Act II, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall 

To make oppression bitter, or ere this 

I should have fatted all the region kites 570 

With this slave's offal : bloody, beastly villain ! 

Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain ! 

O, vengeance ! 

Why, what an ass am I ! This is most brave. 

That I, the son of a dear father murdered, S7s 

Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell. 

Must, vixen -like, unpack my heart with words, 

And fall a-cursing, like a very drab, 

A scuUion ! 

Fie upon 't ! foh ! About, my brain ! I have heard 580 

That guilty creatures sitting at a play 

Have by the very cunning of the scene 

Been struck so to the soul that presently 

They have proclaimed their malefactions ; 

For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak 585 

With most miraculous organ. I '11 have these players 

Play something like the murder of my father 

Before mine uncle : I '11 observe his looks ; 

I '11 tent him to the quick : if he but blench, 

I know my course. The spirit that I have seen 590 

May be the devil : and the de\n.l hath power 

To assume a pleasing shape ; yea, and perhaps 

Out of my weakness and my melancholy. 

As he is very potent with such spirits. 

Abuses me to damn me : I '11 have grounds 595 

More relative than this : the play 's the thing 

Wherein I '11 catch the conscience of the king. 

[Exit. 

57 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene l. 

ACT III. 

Scene I. A room in the castle. 

Enter KiisiG, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, 
and Guildenstern. 

King. And can you, by no drift of circumstance, 
Get from him why he puts on this confusion. 
Grating so harshly all his days of quiet 
With turbulent and dangerous lunacy ? 

Ros. He does confess he feels himself distracted ; s 
But from what cause he will by no means speak. 

Guil. Nor do we find him forward to be sounded, 
But, with a crafty madness, keeps aloof, 
When we would bring him on to some confession 
Of his true state. 

Queen. Did he receive you well? lo 

Ros. Most like a gentleman. 

Guil. But with much forcing of his disposition. 

Ros. Niggard of question ; but, of our demands, 
Most free in his reply. 

Queen. Did you assay him 

To any pastime ? is 

Ros. Madam, it so fell out, that certain players 
We o'er-raught on the way : of these we told him ; 
And there did seem in him a kind of joy 
To hear of it : they are about the court. 
And, as I think, they have already order 20 

This night to play before him. 

Pol. 'T is most true : 

And he beseeched me to entreat your majesties 

S8 



Act III, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 



To hear and see the matter. 

King. With all my heart ; and it doth much content 
me 
To hear him so inclined. 25 

Good gentlemen, give him a further edge, ^ 
And drive his purpose on to these delights. 

Ros. We shall, my lord. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

King. Sweet Gertrude, leave us too ; 

For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither, 
That he, as 't were by accident, may here 30 

Affront Ophelia. 

Her father and myself, lawful espials. 
Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing, unseen, 
We may of their encounter frankly judge. 
And gather by him, as he is behaved, ss 

If 't be the affliction of his love or no 
That thus he suffers for. 

Queen. I shall obey you. 

And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish 
That your good beauties be the happy cause 
Of Hamlet's wildness : so shall I hope your virtues 40 

Will bring him to his wonted way again, 
To both your honors. 

Opk Madam, I wish it may. [Exit Queen. 

Pol. Ophelia, walk you here. Gracious, so please you. 
We will bestow ourselves. [To Ophelia] Read on this 

book ; 
That show of such an exercise may color 45 

Your loneHness. We are oft to blame in this, — 
'T is too much proved — that with devotion's visage 

59 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene l. 

And pious action we do sugar o'er 
The devil himself. 

King. [Aside] O, 't is too true ! 
How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience I 
The harlot's cheek, beau tied with plastering art, si 

Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it 
Than is my deed to my most painted word : 
heavy burthen ! 

Pol. I hear him coming : let 's withdraw, my lord, ss 

[Exeunt King and Polonius. 

Enter Hamlet. 

Ham. To be, or not to be : that is the question : 
Whether 't is nobler in the mind to suffer 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles. 
And by opposing end them. To die : to sleep ; 60 

No more ; and by a sleep to say we end 
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to, 't is a consummation 
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep ; 
To sleep : perchance to dream : ay, there 's the rub ; 6s 
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 
Must give us pause : there 's the respect 
That makes calamity of so long life ; 
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, 7° 

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, 
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, 
The insolence of offlce and the spurns 
That patient merit of the unworthy takes, 

60 



Act III, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

When he himself might his quietus make 75 

With a bare bodkin ? Who would fardels bear, 

To grunt and sweat under a weary life, 

But that the dread of something after death, 

The undiscovered country from whose bourn 

No traveller returns, puzzles the will 80 

And makes us rather bear those ills we have 

Than fly to others that we know not of? 

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ; 

And thus the native hue of resolution 

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, 85 

And enterprises of great pith and moment 

With this regard their currents turn awry, 

And lose the name of action.— Soft you now ! 

The fair Ophelia ! Nymph, in thy orisons 

Be all my sins remembered. 

Oph. Good my lord, 90 

How does your honor for this many a day ? 

Ham. I humbly thank you ; well, well, well. 

Oph. My lord, I have remembrances of yours, 
That I have longed long to re-deliver ; 
I pray you, now receive them. 

Ham. No, not I ; 9s 

I never gave you aught. 

Oph. My honored lord, you know right well you did ; 
And, with them, words of so sweet breath composed 
As made the things more rich : their perfume lost, 
Take these again ; for to the noble mind 100 

Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind 
There, my lord. 

Ham. Ha, ha ! are you honest ? 

61 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 1. 

Oph. My lord? 

Ham. Are you fair? los 

Oph. What means your lordship ? 

Ram. That if you be honest and fair, your honesty 
should admit no discourse to your beauty. 

Oph. Could beauty, my lord, have better commerce 
than with honesty ? no 

Ham. Ay, truly ; for the power of beauty will sooner 
transform honesty from what it is than the force of 
honesty can translate beauty into his likeness : this was 
sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. 
I did love you once. us 

Oph. Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so. 

Ham. You should not have believed me ; for virtue 
cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall rehsh of it : 
I loved you not. 

Oph. I was the more deceived. 120 

Ham. Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be 
a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest; 
but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were 
better my mother had not borne me : I am very proud, 
revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck 
than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to 
give them shape, or time to act them in. What should 
such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven? 
We are arrant knaves, all; believe none of us. Go thy 
ways to a nunnery. Where 's your father? 130 

Oph. At home, my lord. 

Ham. Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may 
play the fool no where but in 's own house. Farewell. 

Oph. O, help him, you sweet heavens 1 

62 




/ was the more 



Act III. Scene i. 



Act III, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Ham. If thou dost marry, I '11 give thee this plague 
for thy dowry : be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, 
thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, 
go : farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool ; 
for wise men know well enough what monsters you make 
of them. To a nunnery, go, and quickly too. Farewell. 

Oph. O heavenly powers, restore him ! 141 

Ham. I have heard of your paintings too, well enough ; 
God has given you one face, and you make yourselves an- 
other : you jig, you amble, and you hsp, and nick-name 
God's creatures, and make your wantonness your igno- 
rance. Go to, I '11 no more on 't ; it hath made me mad. I 
say, we will have no more marriages : those that are mar- 
ried already, all but one, shall live ; the rest shall keep as 
they are. To a nunnery, go. [Exit. 

Oph. O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown ! 150 

The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword ; 
The expectancy and rose of the fair state. 
The glass of fashion and the mould of form, 
The observed of all observers, quite, quite down ! 
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, iss 

That sucked the honey of his music vows. 
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, 
Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh ; 
That unmatched form and feature of blown youth 
Blasted with ecstasy : O, woe is me, 160 

To have seen what I have seen, see what I see ! 

Re-enter King and Polonius. 

King. Love ! his affections do not that way tend ; 
Nor what he spake, though it lacked form a little, 

63 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act ill, Scene 2. 

Was not like madness. There 's something in his soul, 

O'er which his melancholy sits on brood ; i6s 

And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose 

Will be some danger : which for to prevent, 

I have in quick determination 

Thus set it down : he shall with speed to England, 

For the demand of our neglected tribute : 170 

Haply the seas and countries different 

With variable objects shall expel 

This something-settled matter in his heart, 

Whereon his brains still beating puts him thus 

From fashion of himself. What think you on 't? 17s 

Pol. It shall do well : but yet do I believe 
The origin and commencement of his grief 
Sprung from neglected love. How now, Ophelia ! 
You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said ; 
We heard it all. My lord, do as you please ; 180 

But, if you hold it fit, after the play 
Let his queen mother all alone entreat him 
To show his grief : let her be round with him ; 
And I '11 be placed, so please you, in the ear 
Of all their conference. If she find him not, i8s 

To England send him, or confine him where 
Your wisdom best shall think. 

King. It shall be so : 

Madness in great ones must not unwatched go. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. A hall in the castle. 
Enter Hamlet and Players. 

Ham. Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced 
it to you, trippingly on the tongue : but if you mouth it, \ 

64 



Act III, Scene 2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier 
spoke my hnes. Nor do not saw the air too much with 
your hand, thus, but use all gently ; for in the very tor- 
rent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, 
you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it 
smoothness. O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robus- 
tious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very 
rags, to spht the ears of the groundUngs, who for the most 
part are capable of nothing but inexphcable dumb-shows 
and noise : I would have such a fellow whipped for o'er- 
doing Termagant ; it out-herods Herod : pray you, avoid it. 
First Play. I warrant your honor. u 

Ham. Be not too tame neither, but let your own dis- 
cretion be your tutor : suit the action to the word, the 
word to the action; with this special observance, that 
you o'erstep not the modesty of nature : for any thing so 
overdone is from the purpose of pla3dng, whose end, both 
at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 't were, the 
mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, 
scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the 
time his form and pressure. Now this overdone, or come 
tardy off, though it make the unskilful laugh, cannot but 
make the judicious grieve ; the censure of the which one 
must in your allowance o'erweigh a whole theatre of 
others. O, there be players that I have seen play, and 
heard others praise, and that highly, not to speak it pro- 
fanely, that, neither having the accent of Christians nor 
the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man, have so strutted 
and bellowed that I have thought some of nature's jour- 
neymen had made men and not made them well, they 
imitated humanity so abominably. 

6s 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act in, Scene 2. 

First Play. I hope we have reformed that indifferently 
with us, sir. 35 

Ham. O, reform it altogether. And let those that 
play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them ; 
for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on 
some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too ; though, 
in the mean time, some necessary question of the play be 
then to be considered : that 's villanous, and shows a most 
pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Go, make you 
ready. [Exeunt Players. 

Enter Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. 

How now, my lord ! will the king hear this piece of work ? 
Pol. And the queen too, and that presently. 45 

Ham. Bid the players make haste. [Exit Polonius. 

Will you two help to hasten them ? 

„ * ) We will, my lord. 
Ros. J ' -^ 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Ham. What ho I Horatio ! 

Enter Horatio. 

Hor. Here, sweet lord, at your service. so 

Ham. Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man 
As e'er my conversation coped withal. 

Hor. O, my dear lord, — 

Ham. Nay, do not think I flatter ; 

For what advancement may I hope from thee 
That no revenue hast but thy good spirits, ss 

To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be 
flattered? 

66 



Act III, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, 

And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee 

Where thrift may follow fawning. Dost thou hear ? 

Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice 60 

And could of men distinguish, her election 

Hath sealed thee for herself ; for thou hast been 

As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing, 

A man that fortune's buffets and rewards 

Hast ta'en with equal thanks : and blest are those 6s 

Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled, 

That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger 

To sound what stop she please. Give me that man 

That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him 

In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart, 70 

As I do thee. — Something too much of this. — 

There is a play to-night before the king ; 

One scene of it comes near the circumstance 

Which I have told thee of my father's death : 

I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, 7s 

Even with the very comm.ent of thy soul 

Observe mine uncle : if his occulted guilt 

Do not itself unkennel in one speech. 

It is a damned ghost that we have seen, 

And my imaginations are as foul 80 

As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note ; 

For I mine eyes will rivet to his face. 

And after we will both our judgments join 

In censure of his seeming. 

Hor. Well, my lord : 

If he steal aught the whilst this play is playing, 85 

And 'scape detecting, I will pay the theft. 

67 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 2. 

Ham. They are coming to the play ; I must be idle : 
Get you a place. 

Danish march. A flourish. Enter King, Queen, Polonius, 
Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and others. 

King. How fares our cousin Hamlet ? 89 

Ham. Excellent, i' faith ; of the chameleon's dish ; I 
eat the air, promise-crammed : you cannot feed capons so. 

King. I have nothing with this answer, Hamlet ; these 
words are not mine. 

Ham. No, nor mine now. [To Polonius] My lord, 
you played once i' the university, you say ? 95 

Pol. That did I, my lord ; and was accounted a good 
actor. 

Ham. What did you enact ? 

Pol. I did enact Julius Caesar: I was killed i' the 
Capitol ; Brutus killed me. 100 

Ham. It was a brute part of him to kill so capital a 
calf there. Be the players ready ? 

Ros. Ay, my lord ; they stay upon your patience. 

Queen. Come hither, my dear Hamlet, sit by me. 104 

Ham. No, good mother, here 's metal more attractive. 

Pol. [To the King] O, ho ! do you mark that? 

Ham. Lady, shall I lie in your lap ? 

[Lying down at Ophelia's feet. 

Oph. You are merry, my lord. 

Ham. Who, I? 

Oph. Ay, my lord. "o 

Ham. O God, your only jig-maker. What should a 
man do but be merry? for, look you, how cheerfully my 
mother looks, and my father died within these two hours. 

68 



Act III, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

Oph. Nay, 'tis twice two months, my lord. 114 

Ham. So long? Nay then, let the devil wear black, 
for I '11 have a suit of sables. O heavens I die two months 
ago, and not forgotten yet? Then there's hope a great 
man's memory may outHve his Hfe half a year : but, by 'r 
lady, he must build churches, then ; or else shall he suffer 
not thinking on, with the hobby-horse, whose epitaph is 
' For, 1 for, O I the hobby-horse is forgot.' 121 

Hautboys play. The dumb-show enters. 

Enter a King and a Queen very lovingly; the Queen em- 
bracing him, and he her. She kneels, and makes show 
of protestation unto him. He takes her up, and declines 
his head upon her neck: lays him down upon a bank of 
flowers: she, seeing him asleep, leaves him. Anon comes 
in a fellow, takes ojf his crown, kisses it, and pours poison 
in the King's ears, and exit. The Queen returns; finds 
the King dead, and makes passionate action. The Poisoner, 
with some two or three Mutes, comes in again, seeming 
to lament with her. The dead body is carried away. 
The Poisoner wooes the Queen with gifts : she seems loath 
and unwilling awhile, but in the end accepts his love. 

[Exeunt. 
Oph. What means this, my lord ? 
Ham. Marry, this is miching mallecho; it meaiis 

mischief. 

Oph. Behke this show imports the argument of the 

play. 126 

Enter Prologue. 

" Ham. We shall know by this fellow: the players 

cannot keep counsel ; they '11 tell all. 

69 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 2. 

Oph. Will he tell us what this show meant ? 

Ham. Ay, or any show that you '11 show him. 130 

Oph. I 'U mark the play. 

Pro. For us, and for our tragedy, 

Here stooping to your clemency, 

We beg your hearing patiently. [Exit. 

Ham. Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring ? 13s 

Oph. 'T is brief, my lord. 

Ham. As woman's love. 

Enter two Players, King and Queen. 

P. King. Full thirty times hath Phoebus' cart gone 
round 
Neptune's salt wash and Tellus' orbed ground. 
And thirty dozen moons with borrowed sheen uo 

About the world have times twelve thirties been 
Since love our hearts and Hymen did our hands 
Unite commutual in most sacred bands. 

P. Queen. So many journeys may the sun and moon 
Make us again count o'er ere love be done ! 14s 

But, woe is me, you are so sick of late, 
So far from cheer and from your former state, 
That I distrust you. Yet, though I distrust, 
Discomfort you, my lord, it nothing must : 
For women's fear and love holds quantity ; iso 

In neither aught, or in extremity. 
Now, what my love is, proof hath made you know ; 
And as my love is sized, my fear is so : i 

Where love is great, the Httlest doubts are fear ; 
Where little fears grow great, great love grows there, iss , 

P. King. 'Faith, I must leave thee, love, and shortly too ; I 

70 



Act III, Scene 2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

My operant powers their functions leave to do : 
And thou shalt Hve in this fair world behind, 
Honored, beloved ; and haply one as kind 
For husband shalt thou — 

P. Queen O, confound the rest ! i6o 

Such love must needs be treason in my breast : 
In second husband let me be accurst ! 
None wed the second but who killed the first. 

Ham. [Aside\ Wormwood, wormwood. 

P. Queen. The instances that second marriage move 
Are base respects of thrift, but none of love : i66 

A second time I kill my husband dead. 
When second husband kisses me in bed. 

P. King. I do believe you think what now you 
speak ; 
But what we do determine oft we break. 170 

Purpose is but the slave to memory. 
Of violent birth, but poor vaUdity : 
Which now, Hke fruit unripe, sticks on the tree ; 
But fall, unshaken, when they mellow be. 
Most necessary 't is that we forget 17s 

To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt : 
What to ourselves in passion we propose. 
The passion ending, doth the purpose lose. 
The violence of either grief or joy 

Their own enactures with themselves destroy : 180 

Where joy most revels, grief doth most lament ; 
Grief joys, joy grieves, on slender accident. 
This world is not for aye, nor 't is not strange 
That even our loves should with our fortunes change ; 
For 't is a question left us yet to prove, iss 

71 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 2. 

^Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love. 

The great man down, you mark his favorite flies ; 

The poor advanced makes friends of enemies. 

And hitherto doth love on fortune tend ; 

For who not needs shall never lack a friend, 190 

And who in want a hollow friend doth try, 

Directly seasons him his enemy. 

But, orderly to end where I begun. 

Our wills and fates do so contrary run 

That our devices still are overthrown ; 19s 

Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own : 

So think thou wilt no second husband wed ; 

But die thy thoughts when thy first lord is dead. 

P. Queen. Nor earth to me give food, nor heaven 
Hght! 
Sport and repose lock from me day and night ! 200 

To desperation turn my trust and hope ! 
An anchor's cheer in prison be my scope ! 
Each opposite that blanks the face of joy 
Meet what I would have well and it destroy ! 
Both here and hence pursue me lasting strife, 201 

If, once a widow, ever I be wife ! 

Ham. If she should break it now 1 

P. King. 'T is deeply sworn. Sweet, leave me here 
awhile ; 
My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile 
The tedious day with sleep. [Sleeps. 

P. Queen. Sleep rock thy brain ; 210 

And never come mischance between us twain ! [Exit. 

Ham. Madam, how Hke you this play? 

Queen. The lady protests too much, me thinks. 

72 



Act III, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark^ 



Ham. O, but she '11 keep her word. 214 

King. Have you heard the argument? Is there no 
offence in't? 

Ham. No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest; no 
offence i' the world. 

King. What do you call the play ? 219 

Ham. The Mouse-trap. Marry, how? Tropically. 
This play is the image of a murder done in Vienna : 
Gonzago is the duke's name; his wife, Baptista: you 
shall see anon ; 't is a knavish piece of work : but what 
o' that? Your majesty and we that have free souls, 
it touches us not : let the galled jade wince, our withers 
are unwrung. 226 

Enter Lucianus. 

This is one Lucianus, nephew to the king. 

Oph. You are as good as a chorus, my lord. 

Ham. I could interpret between you and your love, if 
I could see the puppets dallying. — Begin, murderer ; 
pox, leave thy damnable faces, and begin. Come : ' the 
croaking raven doth bellow for revenge.' 232 

Luc. Thoughts black, hands apt, drugs fit, and time 
agreeing; 

Confederate season, else no creature seeing ; 

Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected, 23s 

With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice infected, 

Thy natural magic and dire property, 

On wholesome life usurp immediately. 

[Pours the poison into the sleeper's ears. 

Ham. He poisons him i' the garden for 's estate. 
His name 's Gonzago : the story is extant, and writ in 

73 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 2. 

choice Italian : you shall see anon how the murderer gets 
the love of Gonzago's wife. 242 

Oph, The king rises. 
Ham. What, frighted with false fire ! 
Queen. How fares my lord ? 24s 

Pol. Give o'er the play. 
King. Give me some hght : away ! 
All. Lights, lights, hghts ! 

[Exeunt all hut Hamlet and Horatio. 
Ham. Why, let the stricken deer go weep, 

The hart ungalled play ; 250 

For some must watch, while some must sleep : 
So runs the world away. 
Would not this, sir, and a forest of feathers — if the rest 
of my fortunes turn Turk with me — with two Provin- 
cial roses on my razed shoes, get me a fellowship in a 
cry of players, sir ? 256 

Hor. Half a share. 
Ham. A whole one, I. 

For thou dost know, O Damon dear, 

This realm dismantled was 260 

Of Jove himself ; and now reigns here 
A very, very — pajock. 
Hor. You might have rhymed. 

Ham. O good Horatio, I '11 take the ghost's word for 
a thousand pound. Didst perceive? 26s 

Hor. Very well, my lord. 
Ham. Upon the talk of the pqisoning? 
Hor. I did very well note him. 

Ham. Ah, ha I Come, some music ! come, the 
recorders I 270 

74 




What, frighted with false fire ! 



Act III. Scene 2. 




Gwe me some light : away . 



— Act III. Scene 2. 



Act III, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

For if the king like not the comedy, 
Why then, behke, he likes it not, perdy. 
Come, some music ! 

Re-enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Guil. Good my lord, vouchsafe me a word with you. 

Ham. Sir, a whole history. 27s 

Guil. The king, sir, — 

Ham. Ay, sir, what of him ? 

Guil. Is in his retirement marvellous distempered. 

Ham. With drink, sir? 

Guil. No, my lord, rather with choler. 280 

Ham. Your wisdom should show itself more richer to 
signify this to his doctor ; for, for me to put him to his 
purgation would perhaps plunge him into far more 
choler. 

Guil. Good my lord, put your discourse into some 
frame and start not so wildly from my affair. 286 

Ham. I am tame, sir : pronounce. 

Guil. The queen, your mother, in most great affliction 
of spirit, hath sent me to you. 

Ham. You are welcome. 290 

Guil. Nay, good my lord, this courtesy is not of the 
right breed. If it shall please you to make me a whole- 
some answer, I will do your mother's commandment : if 
not, your pardon and my return shall be the end of my 
business. 29s 

Ham, Sir, I cannot. 

Guil. What, my lord ? 

Ham. Make you a wholesome answer ; my wit 's dis- 
eased : but, sir, such answer as I can make, you shall 

75 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act III, Scene 2. 

command ; or, rather, as you say, my mother : therefore 
no more, but to the matter : my mother, you say, — 301 

Ros. Then thus she says; your behavior hath struck 
her into amazement and admiration. 

Ham. O wonderful son, that can so astonish a mother 1 
But is there no sequel at the heels of this mother's admi- 
ration ? 306 

Ros. She desires to speak with you in her closet, ere 
you go to bed. 

Ham. We shall obey, were she ten times our mother. 
Have you any further trade with us ? 310 

Ros. My lord, you once did love me. 

Ham. So I do still, by these pickers and stealers. 

Ros. Good my lord, what is your cause of distemper? 
you do, surely, bar the door upon your own liberty, if you 
deny your griefs to your friend. 31s 

Ham. Sir, I lack advancement. 

Ros. How can that be, when you have the voice of the 
king himself for your succession in Denmark ? 

Ham. Ay, but sir, ' While the grass grows,' — the 
proverb is something musty. 320 

Re-enter Players with recorders. 

O, the recorders I let me see one. To withdraw with you : 
— why do you go about to recover the wind of me, as if 
you would drive me into a toil ? 

Guil. O, my lord, if my duty be too bold, my love is 
too unmannerly. 32s 

Ham. I do not well understand that. Will you play 
upon this pipe ? 

Guil. My lord, I cannot. 

76 



Act III, Scene 2. Hamlet, Princc of Denmark. 

Ham. I pray you. 

Guil. Believe me, I cannot. 330 

Ham. I do beseech you. 

Guil. I know no touch of it, my lord. 

Ham. 'T is as easy as lying: govern these ventages 
with your finger and thumb, give it breath with your 
mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music. Look 
you, these are the stops. 336 

Guil. But these cannot I command to any utterance 
of harmony ; I have not the skill. 

Ham. Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing 
you make of me ! You would play upon me ; you would 
seem to know my stops ; you would pluck out the heart 
of my mystery; you would sound me from my lowest 
note to the top of my compass : and there is much music, 
excellent voice, in this little organ ; yet cannot you make 
it speak. 'S blood, do you think I am easier to be played 
on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, 
though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me. 

Enter Polonius. 

God bless you, sir ! 348 

Pol. My lord, the queen would speak with you, and 
presently. 350 

Ham. Do you see yonder cloud that 's almost in shape 
of a camel? 

Pol. By the mass, and 't is like a camel, indeed. 

Ham. Methinks it is like a weasel. 

Pol. It is backed hke a weasel. zss 

Ham. Or like a whale ? 

Pol. Very Hke a whale. 

77. 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 3. 

Ham. Then I will come to my mother by and by. 
They fool me to the top of my bent. I will come by and 
by. 360 

Pol. I will say so. 

Ram. By and by is easily said. [Exit Polonius. 

Leave me , friends. [Exeunt all but Hamlet. 

'Tis now the very witching time of night, 
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out 36s 
Contagion to this world : now could I drink hot blood, 
And do such bitter business as the day 
Would quake to look on. Soft ! now to my mother. 

heart, lose not thy nature ; let not ever 

The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom : 370 

Let me be cruel, not unnatural : 

1 will speak daggers to her, but use none ; 
My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites ; 
How in my words soever she be shent. 

To give them seals never, my soul, consent ! [Exit. 37s 

Scene III. A room in the castle. 
Enter King, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. 

King. I like him not, nor stands it safe with us 
To let his madness range. Therefore prepare you ; 
I your commission wiU forthwith dispatch. 
And he to England shall along with you : 
The terms of our estate may not endure s 

Hazard so dangerous as doth hourly grow 
Out of his lunacies. 

Guil. We will ourselves provide : 

Most holy and religious fear it is 

78 



Act III, Scene 3. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

To keep those many many bodies safe 

That hve and feed upon your majesty. lo 

Ros, The single and pecuHar Hfe is bound, 
With aU the strength and armor of the mind, 
To keep itself from noyance ; but much more 
That spirit upon whose weal depend and rest 
The lives of many. The cease of majesty is 

Dies not alone ; but, like a gulf, doth draw 
What 's near it with it : it is a massy wheel, 
Fixed on the summit of the highest mount, 
To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things 
Are mortised and adjoined ; which, when it falls, 20 

Each small annexment, petty consequence. 
Attends the boisterous ruin. Never alone 
Did the king sigh, but with a general groan. 

King. Arm you, I pray you, to this speedy voyage ; 
For we will fetters put upon this fear, 25 

Which now goes too free-footed. 

Ros. 

GuU. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 



' \ We will haste us. 



Enter Polonius. 

Pol. My lord, he 's going to his mother's closet : 
Behind the arras I '11 convey myself. 
To hear the process ; I '11 warrant she '11 tax him home : 
And, as you said, and wisely was it said, 30 

'T is meet that some more audience than a mother, 
Since nature makes them partial, should o'erhear 
The speech, of vantage. Fare you well, my liege : 
I '11 call upon you ere you go to bed, 

79 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 3. 

And tell you what I know. 
King. Thanks, dear my lord. 3s 

[Exit Polonius. 
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven ; 
It hath the primal eldest curse upon 't, 
A brother's murder. Pray can I not, 
Though inclination be as sharp as will : 
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent ; 40 

And, like a man to double business bound, 
I stand in pause where I shall first begin, 
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand 
Were thicker than itself with brother's blood. 
Is there- not rain enough in the sweet heavens 4S 

To wash it white as snow ? Whereto serves mercy 
But to confront the visage of offence? 
And what 's in prayer but this two-fold force. 
To be forestalled ere we come to fall. 
Or pardoned being down? Then I'll look up ; . so 

My fault is past. But, O, what form of prayer . 
Can serve my turn ? ' Forgive me my foul murder ' ? 
That cannot be ; since I am still possessed 
Of those effects for which I did the murder. 
My crown, mine own ambition and my queen. 55 

May one be pardoned and retain the offence? 
In the corrupted currents of this world 
Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice, 
And oft 't is seen the wicked prize itself 
Buys out the law : but 't is not so above ; 60 

There is no shuffling, there the action lies 
In his true nature ; and we ourselves compelled, 
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, 

80 



Act III, Scene 3. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

To give in evidence. What then? what rests? 

Try what repentance can : what can it not ? 6s 

Yet what can it when one cannot repent ? 

O wretched state ! O bosom black as death ! 

O limed soul, that, strugghng to be free, 

Art more engaged ! Help, angels ! Make assay ! 

Bow, stubborn knees ; and, heart with strings of steel, 70 

Be soft as sinews of the new-born babe ! 

All may be well. [Retires and kneels. 

Enter Hamlet. 

Ham. Now might I do it pat, now he is praying ; 
And now I '11 do 't. And so he goes to heaven ; 
And so am I revenged. That would be scanned ; 75 

A villain kills my father ; and for that, 
I, his sole son, do this same villain send 
To heaven. 

O, this is hire and salary, not revenge. 
He took my father grossly, full of bread ; 80 

With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May ; 
And how his audit stands who knows save heaven? 
But in our circumstance and course of thought, 
'T is heavy with him : and am I then revenged, 
To take him in the purging of his soul, 8s 

When he is fit and seasoned for his passage ? 
No! 

Up, sword ; and know thou a more horrid hent : 
When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage. 
At gaming, swearing, or about some act 9c 

That has no relish of salvation in 't ; 
Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven^ 

81 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 4. 

And that his soul may be as damned and black 
As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays : 
This physic but prolongs thy sickly days. [Exit. 

King. [Rising] My words fly up, my thoughts remain 
below : 96 

Words without thoughts never to heaven go. [Exit. 

Scene IV. The Queen's closet. 
Enter Queen and Polonius. 

Pol. He will come straight. Look you lay home to 
him : " 
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, 
And that your grace hath screened and stood between 
Much heat and him. I '11 sconce me even here. 
Pray you, be round with him. s 

Ham. [Within] Mother, mother, mother ! 

Queen. I '11 warrant you. 

Fear me not : withdraw, I hear him coming. 

[Polonius hides behind the arras. 

Enter Hamlet. 

Ham. Now, mother, what 's the matter ? 
Queen. Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. 
Ham. Mother, you have my father much offended. 10 
Queen. Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. 
Ham. Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. 
Queen. Why, how now, Hamlet ! 
Ham. What's the matter now? 

Queen. Have you forgot me ? 

Ham. No, by the rood, not so: 

82 



Act III, Scene 4. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife ; 15 

And — ■ would it were not so ! — you are my mother. 

Queen. Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can 
speak. 

Ham. Come, come, and sit you down ; you shall not 
budge ; 
You go not till I set you up a glass 
Where you may see the inmost part of you. 20 

Queen. What wilt thou do ? thou wilt not murder me ? 
Help, help, ho ! 

Pol. [Behind] What, ho ! help, help, help ! 

Ham. [Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a 
ducat, dead ! [Makes a pass through the arras. 

Pol. [Behind] O, I am slain! [Falls and dies. 

Queen. O me, what hast thou done ? 

Ham. Nay, I know not : 25 

Is it the king? 

Queen. O, what a rash and bloody deed is this ! 

Ham. A bloody deed ! almost as bad, good mother, 
As kiU a king, and marry with his brother. 

Queen. As kill a king ! 

Ham. Ay, lady, 't was my word. 30 

[Lifts up the arras and discovers Polonius. 
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell ! 
I took thee for thy better : take thy fortune ; 
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger. 
Leave wringing of your hands : peace ! sit you down, 
And let me wring your heart ; for so I shall, zs 

If it be made of penetrable stuff, 
If damned custom have not brassed it so 
That it is proof and bulwark against sense. 

83 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act in, Scene 4. 

Queen. What have I done, that thou darest wag thy 
tongue 
In noise so rude against me ? 

Ham. Such an act 40 

That blurs the grace and blush of modesty, 
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose 
From the fair forehead of an innocent love 
And sets a bHster there ; makes marriage-vows 
As false as dicers' oaths : O, such a deed 45 

As from the body of contraction plucks 
The very soul, and sweet religion makes 
A rhapsody of words : heaven's face doth glow ; 
Yea, this soHdity and compound mass. 
With tristful visage, as against the doom, so 

Is thought-sick at the act. 

Queen. Ay me, what act, 

That roars so loud, and thunders in the index ? 

Ham. Look here, upon this picture, and on this, 
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. 
See, what a grace was seated on this brow ; 55 

Hyperion's curls ; the front of Jove himself ; 
An eye Hke Mars, to threaten and command ; 
A station Hke the herald Mercury 
New-Hghted on a heaven-kissing hill ; 
A combination and a form indeed, 60 

Where every god did seem to set his seal. 
To give the world assurance of a man : 
This was your husband. Look you now, what follows : 
Here is your husband ; like a mildewed ear. 
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes ? 6s 

Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed, 

84, 



Act III, Scene 4. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

And batten on this moor ? Ha ! have you eyes ? 

You cannot call it love ; for at your age 

The hey-day in the blood is tame, it 's humble, 

And waits upon the judgment : and what judgment 70 

Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have. 

Else could you not have motion ; but sure, that sense 

Is apoplexed ; for madness would not err. 

Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thralled 

But it reserved some quantity of choice, 7S 

To serve in such a difference. What devil was 't 

That thus hath cozened you at hoodman-bhnd ? 

Eyes without feeling, feeUng without sight, 

Ears without hands or eyes, smeUing sans all, 

Or but a sickly part of one true sense 80. 

Could not so mope. 

O shame ! where is thy blush ? RebeUious hell, 

If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones. 

To flaming youth let virtue be as wax. 

And melt in her own fire : proclaim no shame 8s 

When the compulsive ardor gives the charge. 

Since frost itself as actively doth burn 

And reason panders will. 

Queen. O Hamlet, speak no more : 

Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul ; 
And there I see such black and grained spots 90 

As will not leave their tinct. 

Ham. Nay, but to live 

Stewed in corruption, — 

Queen. O, speak to me no more ; 

These words, hke daggers, enter in mine ears ; 
No more, sweet Hamlet ! 

8s 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 4. 

Ham. A murderer and a villain ; 

A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe 9s 

Of your precedent lord ; a vice of kings ; 
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, 
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole, 
And put it in his pocket 1 i 

Queen. No more ! 

Ham. A king of shreds and patches, — i©o 

Enter Ghost. 

Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings. 

Your heavenly guards ! What would your gracious figure ? 

Queen. Alas, he 's mad ! 

Ham. Do you not come your tardy son to chide, 
That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by 105 

The important acting of your dread command? 
O, say ! 

Ghost. Do not forget : this visitation 
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. 
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits : no 

O, step between her and her fighting soul : 
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works : 
Speak to her, Hamlet. 

Ham. How is it with you, lady ? 

Queen. Alas, how is 't with you. 
That you do bend your eye on vacancy ns 

And with the incorporal air do hold discourse? 
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep ; 
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm, 
Your bedded hair, like hfe in excrements. 
Starts up, and stands an end. O gentle son, 120 

86 




On him, on him ! Look you, how pale he glares ! 

— Act III. Scene 4. 



Act III, Scene 4. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper 
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look? 

Ham. On him, on him ! Look you, how pale he glares ! 
His form and cause conjoined, preaching to stones, 
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me ; 125 

Lest with this piteous action you convert 
My stern effects : then what I have to do 
Will want true color ; tears perchance for blood. 

Queen. To whom do you speak this ? 

Ham. Do you see nothing there? 

Queen. Nothing at all ; yet all that is I see. 130 

Ham. Nor did you nothing hear ? 

Queen. No, nothing but ourselves. 

Ham. Why, look you there ! look, how it steals away ! 
My father, in his habit as he lived ! 
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal ! 

[Exit Ghost. 

Queen. This is the very coinage of your brain : 13s 

This bodiless creation ecstasy 
Is very cunning in. 

Ham. Ecstasy ! 

My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time, 
And makes as healthful music : it is not madness 
That I have uttered : bring me to the test, 140 

And I the matter will re- word ; which madness 
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace, 
Lay not that flattering unction to your soul. 
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks : 
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place, 14s 

Whilst rank corruption, mining all within, 
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven ; 

87 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iii, Scene 4. 

Repent what 's past ; avoid what is to come ; 

And do not spread the compost on the weeds, 

To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue ; 150 

For in the fatness of these pursy times 

Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, 

Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good. 

Queen. O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. 

Ham. O, throw away the worser part of it, iss 

And Hve the purer with the other half. 
Good night : 

Assume a virtue, if you have it not. 
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat, 
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this, 160 

That to the use of actions fair and good 
He Hkewise gives a frock or livery. 
That aptly is put on. — 
Once more, good night : 

And when you are desirous to be blessed, 165 

I '11 blessing beg of you. For this same lord, 

[Pointing to Polonius. 
I do repent : but heaven hath pleased it so, 
To punish me with this and this with me. 
That I must be their scourge and minister. 
I will bestow him, and will answer well 17© 

The death I gave him. So, again, good night, 
I must be cruel, only to be kind : 
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind. 
One word more, good lady. 

Queen. What shall I do ? 

Ham. Not this, by no means, that I bid you do : 17s 
Let the bloat king, for a pair of reechy kisses, 

88 



Act III, Scene 4. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

Make you to ravel all this matter out, 

That I essentially am not in madness, 

But mad in craft. 'T were good you let him know ; 

For who, that 's but a queen, fair, sober, wise, i8o 

Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib. 

Such dear concernings hide ? who would do so ? 

No, in despite of sense and secrecy, 

Unpeg the basket on the house's top. 

Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape, i8s 

To try conclusions, in the basket creep, 

And break your own neck down. 

Queen. Be thou assured, if words be made of breath. 
And breath of hfe, I have no hfe to breathe 
What thou hast said to me. 19° 

Ham. I must to England ; you know that ? 

Queen. Alack, 

I had forgot : 't is so concluded on. 

Ham. There 's letters sealed : and my two school- 
fellows. 
Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged, 
They bear the mandate ; they must sweep my way, 195 
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work ; 
For 't is the sport to have the enginer 
Hoist with his own petar : and 't shall go hard 
But I will delve one yard below their mines, 
And blow them at the moon : O, 't is most sweet, 200 

When in one Hne two crafts directly meet. 
This man shall set me packing : 
I '11 lug the guts into the neighbor room. 
Mother, good night. Indeed this counsellor 
Is now most still, most secret and most grave, 20s 

89 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene l 

Who was in life a foolish prating knave. 
Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you. 
Good night, mother. 

[Exeunt severally ; Hamlet dragging in Polonius. 

ACT IV. 

Scene I. A room in the Castle. 
Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. 

King. There 's matter in these sighs ; these profound 
heaves 
You must translate : 't is fit we understand them. 
Where is your son ? 

Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 
Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night ! s 

King. What, Gertrude ? How does Hamlet ? 

Queen. Mad as the sea and wind, when both con- 
tend 
Which is the mightier : in his lawless fit, 
Behind the arras hearing something stir, 
Whips out his rapier, cries, ' A rat, a rat ! ' lo 

And, in this brainish apprehension, kills 
The unseen good old man. 

King. O heavy deed ! 

It had been so with us, had we been there : 
His Uberty is full of threats to all ; 

To you yourself, to us, to every one. 15 

Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answered? 
It will be laid to us, whose providence 

90 



Act IV, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Should have kept short, restrained and out of haunt, 

This mad young man : but so much was our love, 

We would not understand what was most fit ; 20 

But, like the owner of a foul disease. 

To keep it from divulging, let it feed 

Even on the pith of hfe. Where is he gone? 

Queen. To draw apart the body he hath killed : 
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore 25 

Among a mineral of metals base. 
Shows itself pure ; he weeps for what is done. 

King. O Gertrude, come away ! 
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch, 
But we will ship him hence : and this vile deed 30 

We must, with all our majesty and skill. 
Both countenance and excuse. Ho, Guildenstern ! 

Re-enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Friends both, go join you with some further aid : 

Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain, 

And from his mother's closet hath he dragged him ; 35 

Go seek him out ; speak fair, and bring the body 

Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 
Come, Gertrude, we '11 call up our wisest friends ; 
/Vnd let them know, both what we mean to do, 
A.nd what 's untimely done. So, haply, slander, — 40 
\Vhose y/hisper o'er the world's diameter, 
\s level as the cannon to his blank. 
Transports his poisoned shot, may miss our name, 
\nd hit the woundless air. O, come away ! 
My soul is full of discord and dismay. . [Exeunt, as 

91 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 2. 

Scene II. Another room in the castle. 
Enter Hamlet. 
Ham. Safely stowed. 
^^^' ' [Within] Hamlet ! Lord Hamlet ! 



Guil. 

Ham. What noise? who calls on Hamlet? O, here 
they come. 

Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

Ros. What have you done, my lord, with the dead 
body ? 5 

Ham. Compounded it with dust, whereto 't is kin. 

Ros. Tell us where 't is, that we may take it thence 
And bear it to the chapel. 

Ham. Do not believe it. 

Ros. Beheve what ? lo 

Ham. That I can keep your counsel and not mine own. 
Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what repHcation 
should be made by the son of a king ? 

Ros. Take you me for a sponge, my lord ? 14 

Ham. Ay, sir, that soaks up the king's countenance, 
his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the 
king best service in the end : he keeps them, Hke an ape 
doth nuts, in the corner of his jaw ; first mouthed, to be > 
last swallowed : when he needs what you have gleaned, ; 
it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry 
again. 21 

Ros. I understand you not, my lord. 

Ham. I am glad of it : a knavish speech sleeps in a 
foolish ear. 24 

92 



Act IV, Scene 3. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Ros. My lord, you must tell us where the body is, 
and go with us to the king. 

Ham. The body is with the king, but the king is not 
with the body. The king is a thing — 

Guil. A thing, my lord ! 29 

Ham. Of nothing : bring me to him. Hide fox, and 
all after. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. Another room in the castle. 

Enter King, attended. 

King. I have sent to seek him, and to find the body. 
How dangerous is it Jthat this man goes loose I 
Yet must not we put the strong law on him : 
He 's loved of the distracted multitude. 
Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes : 5 

And where 't is so, the offender's scourge is weighed. 
But never the offence. To bear all smooth and even, 
This sudden sending him away must seem 
Deliberate pause : diseases desperate grown 
By desperate appliance are relieved, 10 

Or not at all. 

Enter Rosencrantz. 

How now! what hath befallen? 
Ros. Where the dead body is bestowed, my lord. 
We cannot get from him. 
King. But where is he ? 

Ros. Without, my lord; guarded, to know your 

pleasure. 
King. Bring him before us. is 

Ros. Ho, Guildenstern ! bring in my lord. . 

93 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 3. 

Enter Hamlet and Guilden stern. 

King. Now, Hamlet, where 's Polonius ? 

Ham. At supper. 

King. At supper ! where ? 19 

Ham. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten : a 
certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. 
Your worm is your only emperor for diet : we fat all 
creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots : 
your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable ser- 
vice, two dishes, but to one table : that 's the end. 25 

King. Alas, alas ! 

Ham. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat 
of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. 

King. What dost thou mean by this ? 

Ham. Nothing but to show you how a king may go a 
progress through the body of a beggar. si 

King. Where is Polonius ? 

Ham. In heaven ; send thither to see : if your messen- 
ger find him not there, seek him i' the other place your- 
self. But indeed, if you find him not within this month, 
you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the 
lobby. 37 

King. Go seek him there. 

[To some Attendants. 

Ham. He will stay till ye come. 

[Exeunt Attendants. 

King. Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety, — 
Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve 41 

For that which thou hast done, — must send thee 
hence 

94 



Act IV, Scene 3. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 



With fiery quickness : therefore prepare thyself ; 

The bark is ready, and the wind at help, 

The associates tend, and everything is bent 45 

For England. 

Ham. For England ! 

King. Ay, Hamlet. 

Ham. Good. 

King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes. 

Ham. I see a cherub that sees them. But, come ; for 
England ! Farewell, dear mother. 

King. Thy loving father, Hamlet. 50 

Ham. My mother : father and mother is man and wife ; 
man and wife is one flesh ; and so, my mother. Come, 
for England ! [Exit. 

King. Follow him at foot; tempt him with speed 
abroad ; 
Delay it not ; I '11 have him hence to-night. ss. 

Away ! for every thing is sealed and done 
That else leans on the affair : pray you, make haste. 

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 
And, England, if my love thou hold'st at aught — 
As my great power thereof may give thee sense, 
Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red 60 

After the Danish sword, and thy free awe 
Pays homage to us — thou mayst not coldly set 
Our sovereign process ; which imports at full, 
By letters conjuring to that effect. 

The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England ; 6s 

For like the hectic in my blood he rages. 
And thou must cure me : till I know 't is done, 
Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun. [Exit, 

95 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 4. 

Scene IV. A plain in Denmark. 
Enter Fortinbras, a Captain, and Soldiers, marching 

For. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king ; 
Tell him that, by his license, Fortinbras 
Craves the conveyance of a promised march 
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous 
If that his majesty would aught with us, s 

We shall express our duty in his eye ; 
And let him know so. 

Cap. I will do 't, my lord. 

For. Go softly on. [Exeunt Fortinbras and Soldiers. 

Enter Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and others. 

Ram. Good sir, whose powers are these ? 

Cap. They are of Norway, sir. lo 

Ham. How purposed, sir, I pray you?' 

Cap. Against some part of Poland. 

Ham. Who commands them, sir? 

Cap. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras. 

Ham. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir, is 

Or for some frontier ? 

Cap. Truly to speak, and with no addition, 
We go to gain a Httle patch of ground 
That hath in it no profit but the name. 
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it ; 20 

Nor will it yield to Norway of the Pole 
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee. 

Ham. Why, then the Polack never will defend it. 

Cap. Yes, it is already garrisoned. 

Ham. Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats 

96 



Act IV, Scene 4. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 



Will not debate the question of this straw : 26 

This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace, 
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without 
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir. 

Cap. God be wi' you sir. [Exit. 

Ros. Will 't please you go, my lord ? 30 

Earn. I '11 be with you straight. Go a Httle before. 

[Exeunt all except Hamlet. 
How all occasions do inform against me. 
And spur my dull revenge ! What is a man, 
If his chief good and market of his time 
Be but to sleep and feed ? a beast, no more. 3S 

Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, 
Looking before and after, gave us not 
That capabihty and god-Hke reason 
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be 
Bestial obUvion, or some craven scruple 40 

Of thinking too precisely on the event, 
A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom 
And ever three parts coward, I do not know 
Why yet I hve to say ' This thing 's to do ; ' 
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means 45 

To do 't. Examples gross as earth exhort me : 
Witness this army of such mass and charge 
Led by a dehcate and tender prince, 
Whose spirit with divine ambition puffed 
Makes mouths at the invisible event, so 

Exposing what is mortal and unsure 
To all that fortune, death and danger dare, 
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great 
Is not to stir without great argument, 

97 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 5. 

But greatly to find quarrel in a straw ss 

When honor 's at the stake. How stand I then, . 

That have a father killed, a mother stained, 

Excitements of my reason and my blood. 

And let all sleep, while, to my shame, I see 

The imminent death of twenty thousand men, 60 

That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, 

Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot 

Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, 

Which is not tomb enough and continent 

To hide the slain ? O, from this time forth, 

My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth ! [Exit, 

Scene V. Elsinore. A room in the castle. 
Enter Queen, Horatio, and a Gentleman. 

Queen. I will not speak with her. 

Gent. She is importunate, indeed distract : 
Her mood will needs be pitied. 

Queen. What would she have ? 

Gent. She speaks much of her father ; says she hears 
There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her 
heart ; 5 

Spurns enviously at straws ; speaks things in doubt, 
That carry but half sense : her speech is nothing, 
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move 
The hearers to collection ; they aim at it. 
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts ; 10 

Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them, 
Indeed would make one think there might be thought. 
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily. 

98 



Act IV, Scene 5. Hamlet, Priiice of Denmark. 

Hor. 'T were good she were spoken with ; for she may 
strew 
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds. is 

Queen. Let her come in. [Exit Horatio. 

To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is, 
Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss : 
So full of artless jealousy is guilt. 
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. 20 

Re-enter Horatio, with Ophelia. 

Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark ? 
Queen. How now, OpheHa ! 
Oph. [Sings] How should I your true love know 
From another one? 
By his cockle hat and staff, 25 

And his sandal shoon. 
Queen. Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song? 
Oph. Say you? nay, pray you, mark. 
[Sings] He is dead and gone, lady. 

He is dead and gone ; 30 

At his head a grass-green turf, 
At his heels a stone. 
Queen. Nay, but, Opheha, — 
Oph. Pray you, mark. 
[Sings] White his shroud as the mountain snow, — as 

Enter King. 

Queen. Alas, look here, my lord. 
Oph. [Sings] Larded with sweet flowers ; 
Which bewept to the grave did go 
With true-love showers. 

99 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 5. 

King. How do you, pretty lady ? 40 

Oph. Well, God 'ild you ! They say the owl was a 
baker's daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but 
know not what we may be. God be at your table ! 

King. Conceit upon her father. 

Oph. Pray you, let 's have no words of this ; but when 
they ask you what it means, say you this : 46 

[Sings] To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, 
All in the morning betime. 
And I a maid at your window. 

To be your Valentine. 50 

King. How long hath she been thus ? 

Oph. I hope all will be well. We must be patient : 
but I cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay 
him i' the cold ground. My brother shall know of it : 
and so I thank you for your good counsel. Come, my 
coach! Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies; 
good night, good night. [Exit. 57 

King. Follow her close ; give her good watch, I pray 
you. [Exit Horatio. 

O, this is the poison of deep grief ; it springs 
All from her father's death. O Gertrude, Gertrude 60 
When sorrows come, they come not single spies. 
But in battalions. First, her father slain : 
Next, your son gone ; and he most violent author 
Of his own just remove : the people muddied. 
Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers, 65 
For good Polonius' death; and we have done but 

greenly. 
In hugger-mugger to inter him : poor Ophelia 
Divided from herself and her fair judgment, 

100 



Act IV, Scene 5. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts : 

Last, and as much containing as all these, 70 

Her brother is in secret come from France ; 

Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds, 

And wants not buzzers to infect his ear 

With pestilent speeches of his father's death ; 

Wherein necessity, of matter beggared, 7s 

Will nothing stick our person to arraign 

In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this. 

Like to a murdering-piece, in many places 

Gives me superfluous death. [A noise within. 

Queen. Alack, what noise is this ? 

King. Where are my Switzers? Let them guard the 
door. 80 

Enter another Gentleman. 

What is the matter ? 

Gent. Save yourself, my lord : 

The ocean, overpeering of his list. 
Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste 
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, 
O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord ; 85 

And, as the world were now but to begin, 
Antiquity forgot, custom not known, 
The ratifiers and props of every word, 
They cry ' Choose we : Laertes shall be king : ' 
Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds : 90 
' Laertes shall be king, Laertes king ! ' 

Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry ! 
O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs ! 

King. The doors are broke. j^Noise within. 

lOI 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 5. 

Enter Laertes, armed; Dsines following, 

Laer, Where is this king? Sirs, stand you all with- 
out. 95 

Danes. No, let 's come in. 

Laer. I pray you, give me leave. 

Danes. We will, we will. [They retire without the door. 

Laer. I thank you : keep the door. thou vile king, 
Give me my father ! 

Queen. Calmly, good Laertes. 

Laer. That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me 
bastard, loo 

Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot 
Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brow 
Of my true mother. 

King. What is the cause, Laertes, 

That thy rebellion looks so giant-like ? 
Let him go, Gertrude ; do not fear our person : los 

There 's such divinity doth hedge a king, 
That treason can but peep to what it would. 
Acts httle of his will. Tell me, Laertes, 
Why thou art thus incensed. Let him go, Gertrude. 
Speak, man. no 

Laer. Where is my father ? 

King, Dead. 

Queen. But not by him. 

King. Let him demand his fill. 

Laer. How came he dead? I '11 not be juggled with: 
To hell, allegiance ! vows, to the blackest devil ! 
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit ! ns 

I dare damnation. To this point I stand, 

I02 



Act IV, Scene 5. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

That both the worlds I give to negligence, 
Let come what comes ; only I '11 be revenged 
Most throughly for my father. 

King. Who shall stay you ? 

Laer. My will, not all the world : 120 

And for my means, I '11 husband them so well, 
They shall go far with httle. 

King. Good Laertes, 

If you desire to know the certainty 
Of your dear father's death, is 't writ in your revenge. 
That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe, 125 
Winner and loser ? 

Laer. None but his enemies. 

King. Will you know them then ? 

Laer. To his -good friends thus wide I '11 ope my arms ; 
And like the kind life-rendering pelican, 
Repast them with my blood. 

King. Why, now you speak 130 

Like a good child and a true gentleman. 
That I am guiltless of your father's death, 
And am most sensibly in grief for it, 
It shall as level to your judgment pierce 
As day does to your eye. 

Danes. [Within] Let her come in. 13s 

Laer. How now ! what noise is that ? 

Re-enter Ophelia. 

O heat, dry up my brains ! tears seven times salt. 
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye ! 
By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight. 
Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May 1 140 

103 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 5. 

Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia ! 

O heavens ! is 't possible, a young maid's wits 

Should be as mortal as an old man's Ufe ? 

Nature is fine in love, and where 't is fine, 

It sends some precious instance of itself 145 

After the thing it loves. 

Oph. [Sings] 

They bore him barefaced on the bier ; 
Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny ; 
And in his grave rained many a tear : — 
Fare you well, my dove ! iso 

Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge, 
It could not move thus. 

Oph. [Sings] You must sing a-down a-down, 
An you call him a-down-a. 
O, how the wheel becomes it ! It is the false steward, 
that stole his master's daughter. 156 

Laer. This nothing 's more than matter. 

Oph. There 's rosemary, that 's for remembrance ; pray, 
love, remember : and there is pansies, that 's for thoughts. 

Laer. A document in madness, thoughts and remem- 
brance fitted. 161 

Oph. There 's fennel for you, and columbines : there 's 

rue for you ; and here 's some for me : we may call it 

herb of grace o' Sundays : O, you must wear your rue 

with a difference. There 's a daisy : I would give you 

some violets, but they withered all when my father died ; 

they say he made a good end, — 167 

[Sings] For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy. 

Laer. Thought and afEiction, passion, hell itself. 

She turns to favor and to prettiness. 170 

104 




There '5 rosemary, that 's for remembrance. 

— Act IV. Scene 5. 



Act IV, Scene 5. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Oph, [Sings] And will he not come again ? 
And will he not come again ? 

No, no, he is dead : 

Go to thy death-bed : 
He never will come again. 175 

His beard was as white as snow, 
All flaxen was his poll : 

He is gone, he is gone, 

And we cast away moan : 
God ha' mercy on his soul ! 180 

And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God be wi' ye. 

[Exit. 

Laer. Do you see this, O God ? 

King. Laertes, I must commune with your grief, 
Or you deny me right. Go but apart. 
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, 185 

And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me : 
If by direct or by collateral hand 
They find us touched, we will our kingdom give, 
Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours. 
To you in satisfaction ; but if not, 190 

Be you content to lend your patience to us. 
And we shall jointly labor with your soul 
To give it due content. 

Laer. Let this be so ; 

His means of death, his obscure funeral — 
No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones, 19s 

No noble rite nor formal ostentation — 
Cry to be heard, as 't were from heaven to earth, 
That I must call 't in question. 

105 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 6. 

King. So you shall ; 

And where the offence is let the great axe fall. 
I pray you, go with me. [Exeunt. 200 

• Scene VI. Another room in the castle. 
Enter Horatio and a Servant. 

Hor. What are they that would speak with me ? 

Serv. Sailors, sir : they say they have letters for you. 

Hor. Let them come in. [Exit Servant. 

I do not know from what part of the world 
I should be greeted, if not from Lord Hamlet. s 

Enter Sailors. 

First Sail. God bless you, sir. 

Hor. Let him bless thee too. 

First Sail. He shall, sir, an't please him. There's 
a letter for you, sir : it comes from the ambassador that 
was bound for England; if your name be Horatio, as I 
am let to know it is. 1 1 

Hor. [Reads] ' Horatio, when thou shalt have over- 
looked this, give these fellows some means to the king: 
they have letters for him. Ere we were two days old 
at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us 
chase. Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on a 
compelled valor, and in the grapple I boarded them : on 
the instant they got clear of our ship ; so I alone became 
their prisoner. They have dealt with me like thieves of 
mercy : but they knew what they did ; I am to do a good 
turn for them. Let the king have the letters I have 
sent ; and repair thou to me with as much speed as thou 
wouldst fly death. I have words to speak in thine ear 

106 



Act IV, Scene 7. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

will make thee dumb ; yet are they much too Hght for 
the bore of the matter. These good fellows will bring 
thee where I am. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold 
their course for England: of them I have much to tell 
thee. Farewell. 28 

' He that thou knowest thine, Hamlet.' 
Come, I will make you way for these your letters ; 
And do 't the speedier, that you may direct me 
To him from whom you brought them. [Exeunt. 

Scene VH. Another room in the castle. 
Enter King and Laertes. 

King. Now must your conscience my acquittance seal, 
And you must put me in your heart for friend, 
Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear, 
That he which hath your noble father slain 
Pursued my life. 

Laer. It well appears : but tell me s 

Why you proceeded not against these feats, 
So crimeful and so capital in nature. 
As by your safety, wisdom, all things else, 
You mainly were stirred up. 

King. O, for two special reasons; 

Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinewed, 10 
But yet to me they are strong. The queen his mother 
Lives almost by his looks ; and for myself — 
My virtue or my plague, be it either which — 
She 's so conjunctive to my life and soul. 
That, as the star moves not but in his sphere, is 

I could not but by her. The other motive, 
Why to a pubUc count I might not go, 

107 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 7. 

Is the great love the general gender bear him ; 

Who, dipping all his faults in their affection, 

Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone, 20 

Convert his gyves to graces ; so that my arrows. 

Too shghtly timbered for so loud a wind. 

Would have reverted to my bow again. 

And not where I had aimed them. 

Laer. And so have I a noble father lost ; 25 

A sister driven into desperate terms. 
Whose worth, if praises may go back again, 
Stood challenger on mount of all the age 
For her perfections : but my revenge will come. 

King. Break not your sleeps for that : you must not 
think 30 

That we are made of stuff so fiat and dull 
That we can let our beard be shook with danger 
And think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more : 
I loved your father, and we love our self ; 
And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine — ss 

Enter a Messenger. 

How now ! what news ? 

Mess. Letters, my lord, from Hamlet : 

This to your majesty ; this to the queen. 

King. From Hamlet ! who brought them ? 

Mes. Sailors, my lord, they say ; I saw them not : 
They were given me by Claudio ; he received them 40 
Of him that brought them. 

King. Laertes, you shall hear them. 

Leave us. [Exit Messenger. 

[Reads] ' High and mighty. You shall know I am set 
108 



Act IV, Scene 7. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

naked on your kingdom. To-morrow shall I beg leave to 
see your kingly eyes: when I shall, first asking your 
pardon thereunto, recount the occasion of my sudden and 
more strange return. 47 

' Hamlet.' 
What should this mean ? Are all the rest come back ? 
Or is it some abuse, and no such thing? so 

Laer. Know you the hand ? 

King. 'T is Hamlet's character. ' Naked ! ' 

And in a postscript here, he says ' alone.' 
Can you advise me ? 

Laer, I 'm lost in it, my lord. But let him come ; 
It warms the very sickness in my heart, s$ 

That I shall hve and tell him to his teeth, 
' Thus didest thou.' 

King. If it be so, Laertes — 

As how should it be so ? how otherwise ? — 
Will you be ruled by me ? 

Laer. Ay, my lord ; 

So you will not o'errule.me to a peace. 60 

King. To thine own peace. If he be now returned, 
As checking at his voyage, and that he means 
No more to undertake it, I will work him 
To an exploit, now ripe in my device. 
Under the which he shall not choose but fall : 65 

And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, 
But even his mother shall uncharge the practice 
And call it accident. 

Laer. My lord, I will be ruled ; 

The rather, if you could devise it so 
That I might' be the organ. 

109 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 7. 

King. It falls right. 70 

You have been talked of since your travel much, 
And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quahty 
Wherein, they say, you shine : your sum of parts 
Did not together pluck such envy from him 
As did that one, and that, in my regard, 7s 

Of the unworthiest siege. 

Laer. What part is that, my lord? 

King. A very riband in the cap of youth, 
Yet needful too ; for youth no less becomes 
The light and careless livery that it wears 
Than settled age his sables and his weeds, 80 

Importing health and graveness. Two months since, 
Here was a gentleman of Normandy : — 
I 've seen myself, and served against, the French, 
And they can well on horseback : but this gallant 
Had witchcraft in 't ; he grew unto his seat ; 85 

And to such wondrous doing brought his horse. 
As he had been incorpsed and demi-natured 
With the brave beast : so far he topped my thought. 
That I, in forgery of shapes and tricks. 
Come short of what he did. 

Laer. A Norman was 't ? 9° 

King. A Norman. 

Laer. Upon my life, Lamond. 

King. The very same. 

Laer. I know him well : he is the brooch indeed 
And gem of all the nation. 

King. He made confession of you, 9s 

And gave you such a masterly report 
For art and exercise in your defence 

IIQ 



Act IV, Scene 7. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

And for your rapier rnost especially, 

That he cried out, 't would be a sight indeed, 

If one could match you : the scrimers of their nation, loo 

He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye, 

If you opposed them. Sir, this report of his 

Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy 

That he could nothing do but wish and beg 

Your sudden coming o'er, to play with him. los 

Now, out of this, — 

Laer. What out of this, my lord? 

King. Laertes, was your father dear to you? 
Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, 
A face without a heart ? 

Laer. Why ask you this ? 

King. Not that I think you did not love your father ; 
But that I know love is begun by time ; m 

And that I see, in passages of proof. 
Time qualifies the spark and fire of it. 
There lives within the very flame of love 
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it ; us 

And nothing is at a like goodness still ; 
For goodness, growing to a plurisy. 
Dies in his own too much : that we would do, 
We should do when we would ; for this ' would ' changes 
And hath abatements and delays as many 120 

As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents ; 
And then this ' should ' is Hke a spendthrift sigh, 
That hurts by easing. But, to the quick o' the ulcer: — 
Hamlet comes back : what would you undertake, 
To show yourself your father's son in deed 125 

More than in words ? 

Ill 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act iv, Scene 7. 

Laer. To cut his throat i' the church. 

King. No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize ; 
Revenge should have no bounds. But, good Laertes, 
Will you do this, keep close within your chamber. 
Hamlet returned shall know you are come home : 130 

We '11 put on those shall praise your excellence 
And set a double varnish on the fame 
The Frenchman gave you, bring you in fine together 
And wager on your heads : he, being remiss. 
Most generous and free from all contriving, 13s 

Will not peruse the foils ; so that, with ease, 
Or with a little shuffling, you may choose 
A sword unbated, and in a pass of practice 
Requite him for your father. 

Laer. I will do 't : 

And, for that purpose, I '11 anoint my sword. 140 

I bought an unction of a mountebank, 
So mortal that, but dip a knife in it. 
Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare. 
Collected from all simples that have virtue 
Under the moon, can save the thing from death c4s 

That is but scratched withal : I '11 touch my point 
With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly. 
It may be death. 

King. Let 's further think of this ; 

Weigh what convenience both of time and means 
May fit us to our shape : if this should fail, isc 

And that our drift look through our bad performance, 
'T were better not assayed : therefore this project 
Should have a back or second, that might hold, 
If this should blast in proof. Soft ! let me see : 

1X2 



Act IV, Scene 7. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

We '11 make a solemn wager on your cunnings : iss 

Iha't: 

When in your motion you are hot and dry — 

As make your bouts more violent to that end — 

And that he calls for drink, I '11 have prepared him 

A chaHce for the nonce, whereon but sipping, i6o 

If he by chance escape your venomed stuck, 

Our purpose may hold there. 

Enter Queen. 

How now, sweet queen ! 
Queen. One woe doth tread upon another's heels 
So fast they follow : your sister's drowned, Laertes. 
Laer. Drowned ! O, where ? i6s 

Queen. There is a willow grows aslant a brook, 
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream ; 
There with fantastic garlands did she come 
Of crow- flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples 
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, 170 

But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them : 
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds 
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke ; 
When down her weedy trophies and herself 
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide ; 175 
And, mermaid-Hke, awhile they bore her up : 
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes ; 
As one incapable of her own distress, 
Or Hke a creature native and indued 
Unto that element : but long it could not be 180 

Till that her garments, heavy with their drink. 
Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay 

113 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene l 

To muddy death. 

Laer. Alas, then, she is drowned? 

Queen. Drowned, drowned. 

Laer. Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, i8s 
And therefore I forbid my tears : but yet 
It is our trick ; nature her custom holds, 
Let shame say what it will : when these are gone. 
The woman will be out. Adieu, my lord : 
I have a speech of fire, that fain would blaze, 190 

But that this folly douts it. [Exit. 

King. Let 's follow, Gertrude : 

How much I had to do to calm his rage ! 
Now fear I this will give it start again ; 
Therefore let 's follow. [Exeunt. 

ACT V. 

Scene I. A churchyard. 
Enter two Clowns, with spades, b'c. 

First Clo. Is she to be buried in Christian burial that 
wilfully seeks her own salvation ? 

Sec. Clo. I tell thee she is : and therefore make her 
grave straight : the crowner hath sat on her, and finds it 
Christian burial. 5 

First Clo. How can that be, unless she drowned her- 
self in her own defence ? 

Sec. Clo. Why, 't is found so. 

First Clo. It must be ' se offendendo ; ' it cannot be 
else. For here lies the point : if I drown myself wit- 
tingly, it argues an act : and an act hath three branches ; 

114 



Act V, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

it is, to act, to do, to perform : argal, she drowned her- 
self wittingly. 

Sec. Clo. Nay, but hear you, goodman delver, — 14 

First Clo. Give me leave. Here lies the water ; 
good : here stands the man ; good : if the man go to this 
water, and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes, 
— mark you that ; but if the water come to him and 
drown him, he drowns not himself : argal, he that is not 
guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. 20 

Sec. Clo. But is this law ? 

First Clo. Ay, marry, is 't ; crowner's quest law. 

Sec. Clo. Will you ha' the truth on 't? If this had 
not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried 
out o' Christian burial. 25 

First Clo. Why, there thou say'st : and the more pity 
that great folk should have countenance in this world 
to drown or hang themselves, more than their even 
Christian. Come, my spade. There is no ancient gentle- 
men but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers : they 
hold up Adam's profession. 3x 

Sec. Clo. Was he a gentleman ? 

First Clo. He was the first that ever bore arms. 

Sec. Clo. Why, he had none. 

First Clo. What, art a heathen? How dost thou 
understand the Scripture ? The Scripture says ' Adam 
digged:' could he dig without arms? I '11 put another 
question to thee: if thou answerest me not to the pur- 
pose, confess thyself — 39 

Sec. Clo. Go to. 

First Clo. What is he that builds stronger than either 
the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter? 

"S 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene i 

Sec. Clo. The gallows-maker; for that frame outlives 
a thousand tenants. 44 

First Clo. I like thy wit well, in good faith : the gal- 
lows does well; but how does it well? it does well to 
those that do ill : now thou dost ill to say the gallows is 
built stronger than the church : argal, the gallows may 
do well to thee. To 't again, come. 

Sec. Clo. ' Who builds stronger than a mason, a ship- 
wright, or a carpenter ? ' 51 

First Clo. Ay, tell me that, and unyoke. 

Sec. Clo. Marry, now I can tell. 

First Clo. To 't. 

Sec. Clo. Mass, I cannot tell. ' ss 

Enter Hamlet and Horatio, at a distance. 

First Clo. Cudgel thy brains no more about it, for 
your dull ass will not mend his pace with beating ; and, 
when you are asked this question next, say ' a grave- 
maker:' the houses that he makes last till doomsday. 
Go, get thee to Yaughan : fetch me a stoup of liquor. 60 
[He digs, and sings.] [Exit Sec. Clown. 

In youth, when I did love, did love, 

Methought it was very sweet. 
To contract, O, the time, for, ah, my behove, 
O, methought, there was nothing meet. 
Ham. Has this fellow no feeling of his business, that 
he sings at grave-making? 66 

Hor. Custom hath made it in him a property of 
easiness. 

Ham. 'T is e'en so : the hand of little employment 
hath the daintier sense. 7c 

116 



Act V, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

First Clo. [Sings] 

But age, with his steahng steps, 
Hath clawed me in his clutch. 
And hath shipped me intil the land. 

As if I had never been such. 74 

[Throws up a skull. 
Ham. That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing 
once : how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were 
Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first murder! It might 
be the pate of a poHtician, which this ass now o'er- 
reaches ; one that would circumvent God, might it not? 
Hor. It might, my lord. 80 

Ham. Or of a courtier ; which could say ' Good mor- 
row, sweet lord ! How dost thou, good lord ? ' This 
might be my lord such-a-one, that praised my lord such- 
a-one's horse, when he meant to beg it ; might it not? 
Hor. Ay, my lord. 85 

Ham. Why, e'en so : and now my Lady Worm's ; 
chapless, and knocked about the mazzard with a sexton's 
spade : here 's fine revolution, an we had the trick to see 't. 
Did these bones cost no more the breeding, but to play 
at loggats with 'em ? Mine ache to think on 't. 90 

First Clo. [Sings] 

A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade, 

For and a shrouding sheet : 
O, a pit of clay for to be made 

For such a guest is meet. 94 

[Throws up another skull. 

Ham. There 's another : why may not that be the 

skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his 

quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? why does 

117 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene i. 

he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the 
sconce with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his 
action of battery? Hum! This fellow might be in 's 
time a great buyer of land, with his statutes, his recog- 
nizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his recoveries : 
is this the fine of his fines, and the recovery of his 
recoveries, to have his fine pate full of fine dirt? Will 
his vouchers vouch him no more of his purchases, and 
double ones too, than the length and breadth of a pair of 
indentures? The very conveyances of his lands will 
hardly lie in this box; and must the inheritor himself 
have no more, ha ? 

Hor. Not a jot more, my lord. no 

Ham. Is not parchment made of sheep-skins ? 

Hor. Ay, my lord, and of calf-skins too. 

Ham. They are sheep and calves which seek out as- 
surance in that. I will speak to this fellow. Whose 
grave 's this, sirrah? us 

First Clo. Mine, sir. 

[Sings] O, a pit of clay for to be made 
For such a guest is meet. 

Ham. I think it be thine, indeed; for thou liest 
in't. 1 20 

First Clo. You he out on't, sir, and therefore it is 
not yours : for my part, I do not lie in 't, and yet it is 
mine. 

Ham. Thou dost lie in't, to be in't and say it is 
thine : 't is for the dead, not for the quick ; therefore thou 
liest. ' 126 

First Clo. 'T is a quick he, sir ; 't will away again, from 
me to you. 

118 



Act V, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 



Ham. What man dost thou dig it for ? 

First Clo. For no man, sir. 130 

Ham. What woman, then? 

First Clo. For none, neither. 

Ham. Who is to be buried in 't ? 

First Clo. One that was a woman, sir; but, rest her 
soul, she 's dead. 135 

Ham. How absolute the knave is ! We must speak 
by the card, or equivocation will undo us. By the Lord, 
Horatio, these three years I have taken note of it ; 
the age is grown so picked that the toe of the peasant 
comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe. 
How long hast thou been a grave-maker? 141 

First Clo. Of all the days i' the year, I came to 't that 
day that our last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras. 

Ham. How long is that since ? 144 

First Clo. Cannot you tell that? Every fool can tell 
that : it was the very day that young Hamlet was born ; 
he that is mad, and sent into England. 

Ham. Ay, marry, why was he sent into England ? 

First Clo. Why, because he was mad : he shall recover 
his wits there ; or, if he do not, it 's no great matter 
there. isi 

Ham. Why ? 

First Clo. 'T will not be seen in Him there ; there the 
men are as mad as he. 

Ham. How came he mad ? iss 

First Clo. Very strangely, they say. 

Ham. How strangely ? 

First Clo. Faith, e'en with losing his wits. 

Ham. Upon what ground? 

119 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene i. 

First Clo. Why, here in Denmark: I have been sex- 
ton here, man and boy, thirty years. i6i 

Ham. How long will a man He i' the earth ere he 
rot? 

First Clo. V faith, if he be not rotten before he die 
— as we have many pocky corses now-a-days, that will 
scarce hold the laying in — he will last you some eight 
year or nine year : a tanner will last you nine year. 167 

Ham. Why he more than another ? 

First Clo. Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his 
trade, that he will keep out water a great while; and 
your water is a sore decayer of your dead body. Here 's 
a skull now; this skull has lain in the earth three and 
twenty years. 173 

Ham. Whose was it ? 

First Clo. A whoreson mad fellow's it was : whose do 
you think it was ? 176 

Ham. Nay, I know not. 

First Clo. A pestilence on him for a mad rogue: a' 
poured a flagon of Rhenish on my head once. This same 
skull, sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester. 180 

Ham. This ? 

First Clo. E'en that. 

Ham. Let me see. [Takes the skull] Alas, poor 
Yorick ! I knew him, Horatio : a fellow of infinite jest, 
of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back 
a thousand times ; and now, how abhorred in my imagina- 
tion it is ! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that 
I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes 
now, your gambols, your songs, your flashes of merri- 
ment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not 

120 



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Alas, poor Yorick ! 



— Act V. Scene i. 



Act V, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

one now, to mock your own grinning, — quite chap-fallen ? 
Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her 
paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come ; make her 
laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing. 

Hor. What 's that, my lord? 195 

Ham. Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fash- 
ion i' the earth ? 
Hor. E'en so. 

Ham. And smelt so ? pah ! [Puts down the skull. 

Hor. E'en so, my lord. 200 

Ham. To what base uses we may return, Horatio ! 
Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alex- 
ander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole ? 

Hor. 'T were to consider too curiously, to consider so. 
Ham. No, faith, not a jot ; but to follow him thither 
with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it : as thus : 
Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander return- 
eth into dust ; the dust is earth ; of earth we make loam ; 
and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might 
they not stop a beer-barrel ? 210 

Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, 
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away : 
O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe, 
Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw ! 
But soft ; but soft : aside : here comes the king. 21s 

Enter Priests, b"c. in procession; the Corpse of Ophelia, 
Laertes and Mourners following ; King, Queen, their 
trains, dfc. 

The queen, the courtiers : who is this they follow ? 
And with such maimed rites ? This doth betoken 

121 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene l. 

The corse they follow did with desperate hand 
Fordo its own life : 't was of some estate. 
Couch we awhile, and mark. 220 

[Retiring with Horatio. 

Laer. What ceremony else ? 

Ham. That is Laertes, 

A very noble youth : mark. 

Laer. What ceremony else ? 

First Priest. Her obsequies have been as far enlarged 
As we have warranties : her death was doubtful ; 225 

And, but that great command o'ersways the order, 
She should in ground unsanctified have lodged 
Till the last trumpet ; for charitable prayers, 
Shards, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her : 
Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants, 230 

Her maiden strewments and the bringing home 
Of bell and burial. 

Laer. Must there no more be done ? 

First Priest. No more be done : 

We should profane the service of the dead 
To sing a requiem and such rest to her 23s 

As to peace-parted souls. 

Laer. Lay her i' the earth : 

And from her fair and unpolluted flesh 
May violets spring ! I tell thee, churhsh priest, 
A ministering angel shall my sister be. 
When thou liest howling. 

Ham. What, the fair Ophelia ! 240 

Queen. Sweets to the sweet : farewell ! 

[Scattering flowers. 
• I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife ; 

122 



Act V, Scene 1. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid, 
And not have strewed thy grave. 

Laer. 0, treble woe 

Fall ten times treble on that cursed head, 245 

Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense 
Deprived thee of ! Hold off the earth awhile, 
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms : 

[Leaps into the grave. 
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead. 
Till of this flat a mountain you have made, 250 

To o'ertop old Pelion, or the skyish head 
Of blue Olympus. 

Ham. [Advancing] What is he whose grief 
Bears such an emphasis, — whose phrase of sorrow 
Conjures the wandering stars, and makes them stand 
Like wonder- wounded hearers ? This is I, 255 

Hamlet the Dane. [Leaps into the grave. 

Laer. The devil take thy soul ! 

[Grappling with him. 

Ham. Thou pray'st not well. 
I prithee, take thy fingers from my throat ; 
For, though I am not splenitive and rash, 
Yet have I something in me dangerous, 260 

Which let thy wiseness fear ; hold off thy hand. 

King. Pluck them asunder. 

Queen. Hamlet, Hamlet ! 

All. Gentlemen, — 

Hor. Good my lord, be quiet. 

[The Attendants part them, and they come 

out of the grave. 

Ham. Why, I will fight with him upon this theme 
123 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene i. 

Until my eyelids will no longer wag. 265 

Queen. O my son, what theme ? 

Ham. I loved OpheHa : forty thousand brothers 
Could not, with all their quantity of love. 
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her? 

King. O, he is mad, Laertes. 270 

Queen. For love of God, forbear him. 

Ham. 'Swounds, show me what thou 'It do : 
Woo't weep, woo't fight, woo't fast, woo't tear thy- 
self? 
Woo 't drink up eisel, — eat a crocodile? 
I '11 do 't. Dost thou come here to whine, — 27s 

To outface me with leaping in her grave ? 
Be buried quick with her, and so will I : 
And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw 
Millions of acres on us, till our ground. 
Singeing his pate against the burning zone, 280 

Make Ossa like a wart ! Nay, an thou 'It mouth, 
I '11 rant as well as thou. 

Queen. This is mere madness : 

And thus awhile the fit will work on him ; 
Anon, as patient as the female dove. 
When that her golden couplets are disclosed, 
His silence will sit drooping. 

Ham. Hear you, sir ; 

What is the reason that you use me thus ? 
I loved you ever : but it is no matter ; 
Let Hercules himself do what he may. 
The cat will mew and dog will have his day. [Exit. 290 

King. I pray you, good Horatio, wait upon him. 

[Exit Horatio. 

124 



Act V, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

[To Laertes] Strengthen your patience in our last night's 

speech ; 
We 'U put the matter to the present push. 
Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son. 
This grave shall have a living monument : 295 

An hour of quiet shortly shall we see ; 
Till then, in patience our proceeding be. [Exeunt. 

Scene II. A hall in the castle. 
Enter Hamlet and Horatio. 

Ham, So much for this, sir: now shall you see the 
other ; 
You do remember all the circumstance? 

Hor. Remember it, my lord ! 

Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting, 
That would not let me sleep : methought I lay s 

Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly, — 
And praised be rashness for it, let us know. 
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well, 
When our deep plots do pall : and that should teach us 
There 's a divinity that shapes our ends, \ 10 

Rough-hew them how we will, — | 

Hor. That is most certain. 

Ham. Up from my cabin. 
My sea-gown scarfed about me, in the dark 
Groped I to find out them ; had my desire. 
Fingered their packet, and in fine withdrew 15 

To mine own room again ; m.aking so bold, 
My fears forgetting manners, to unseal 
Their grand commission ; where I found, Horatio, — 

125 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene 2. 

royal knavery ! — an exact command, 

Larded with many several sorts of reasons 20 

Importing Denmark's health and England's too, 

With, ho ! such bugs and goblins in my life, 

That, on the supervise, no leisure bated. 

No, not to stay the grinding of the axe. 

My head should be struck off. 

Hor. Is 't possible ? 25 

Ham. Here 's the commission : read it at more lei- 
sure. 
But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed ? 

Hor. I beseech you. 

Ham. Being thus be-netted round with villanies, — 
Ere I could make a prologue to my brains, 30 

They had begun the play — I sat me down, 
Devised a new commission, wrote it fair : 

1 once did hold it, as our statists do, 

A baseness to write fair and labored much 

How to forget that learning, but, sir, now 35 

It did me yeoman's service : wilt thou know 

The effect of what I wrote? 

Hor. Ay, good my lord. 

Ham. An earnest conjuration from the king, 
As England was his faithful tributary. 
As love between them like the palm might flourish, 40 

As peace should still her wheaten garland wear 
And stand a comma 'tween their amities. 
And many such-like 'As'es of great charge. 
That, on the view and knowing of these contents. 
Without debatement further, more or less, 4.=; 

He should the bearers put to sudden death, 

126 



Act V, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 



Not shriving time allowed. 

Hor. How was this sealed? 

Ham. Why, even in that was heaven ordinant. 
1 had my father's signet in my purse, 
Which was the model of that Danish seal ; so 

Folded the writ up in form of the other, 
Subscribed it, gave 't the impression, placed it safely, 
The changeling never known. Now, the next day 
Was our sea-fight ; and what to this was sequent 
Thou know'st already. - 55 

Hor. So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to 't. 

Ham. Why, man, they did make love to this employ- 
ment; 
They are not near my conscience ; their defeat 
Does by their own insinuation grow : 
'T is dangerous when the baser nature comes 60 

Between the pass and fell incensed points 
Of mighty opposites. 

Hor. Why, what a king is this ! 

Ham. Does it not, think' st thee, stand me now upon — 
He that hath killed my king and wiv 'd my mother, 
Popped in between the election and my hopes, 6s 

Thrown out his angle for my proper hfe, 
And with such cozenage — is 't not perfect conscience, 
To quit him with this arm ; and is 't not to be damned. 
To let this canker of our nature come 
In further evil ? 70 

Hor. It must be shortly known to him from Eng- 
land 
What is the issue of the business there. 

Ham. It will be short : the interim is mine ; 
127 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene 2. 



And a man's life 's no more than to say * One.' 
But I am very sorry, good Horatio, 7S 

That to Laertes I forgot myself ; 
For, by the image of my cause, I see 
The portraiture of his : I '11 court his favors : 
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me 
Into a towering passion. 
Hor, Peace ! Who comes here ? 80 

Enter Osric. 

Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to Den- 
mark. 

Ham. I humbly thank you, sir. [Aside to Horatio.] 
Dost know this water-fly? 

Hor. [Aside to Hamlet.] No, my good lord. 85 

Ham. [Aside to Horatio.] Thy state is the more 
gracious ; for 't is a vice to know him. He hath much 
land, and fertile : let a beast be lord of beasts, and 
his crib shall stand at the king's mess : 't is a chough ; 
but, as I say, spacious in the possession of dirt. 90 

Osr. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I 
should impart a thing to you from his majesty. 

Ham. I will receive it, sir, with all dihgence of spirit. 
Put your bonnet to his right use ; 't is for the head. 

Osr. I thank your lordship, it is very hot. 9S 

Ham. No, believe me, 't is very cold; the wind is 
northerly. 

Osr. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed. 

Ham. But yet methinks it is very sultry and hot for 
my complexion. 100 

Osr. Exceedingly, my lord ; it is very sultry, — as 
128 



Act V 

,^v, Scene2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

bet 

, . were, — I cannot tell how. But, my lord, his majesty 

^ade me signify to you that he has laid a great wager 

on your head : sir, this is the matter, — 

Ham. I beseech you, remember — 105 

[Hamlet moves him to put on his hat. 

Osr. Nay, good my lord ; for mine ease, in good faith. 
Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes ; believe me, an 
absolute gentleman, full of most excellent differences, of 
very soft society and great showing: indeed, to speak 
feelingly of him, he is the card or calendar of gentry, for 
you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentle- 
man would see. 112 

Ham. Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you ; 
though, I know, to divide him inventorially would dizzy 
the arithmetic of memory, and yet but yaw neither, in 
respect of his quick sail. But, in the verity of extolment, 
I take him to be a soul of great article ; and his infusion 
of such dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of 
him, his semblable is his mirror; and who else would 
trace him, his umbrage, nothing more. 120 

Osr. Your lordship speaks most infallibly of him. 

Ham. The concernancy, sir? WTiy do we wrap the 
gentleman in our more rawer breath ? 

Osr. Sir? 

Hor. Is 't not possible to understand in another 
tongue? You will do 't, sir, really. 12'j 

Ham. What imports the nomination tf this gentle- 
man ? 

Osr. Of Laertes ? 

Hor. His purse is empty already ; all 's" golden words 
are spent. 131 

129 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v. Seen 



ceni 



e2, 



Ham. Of him, sir. 

Osr. I know you are not ignorant — 

Ham. I would you did, sir; yet, in faith, if you did, 
it would not much approve me. Well, sir? 13s 

Osr. You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes 
is — 

Ham. I dare not confess that, lest I should compare 
with him in excellence; but, to know a man well, were 
to know himself. 140 

Osr. I mean, sir, for his weapon ; but in the imputa- 
tion laid on him by them, in his meed he 's unfel- 
lowed. 

Ham. What 's his weapon ? 

Osr. Rapier and dagger. 14s 

Ham. That 's two of his weapons : but, well. 

Osr. The king, sir, hath wagered with him six Bar- 
bary horses : against the which he has imponed, as I 
take it, six French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, 
as girdle, hangers, and so : three of the carriages, in faith, 
are very dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most 
dehcate carriages, and of very Hberal conceit. 152 

Ham. What call you the carriages ? 

Hor. I knew you must be edified by the margent ere 
you had done. 155 

Osr. The carriages, sir, are the hangers. 

Ham. The phrase would be more german to the mat- 
ter, if we could carry cannon by our sides: I would it 
might be hangers till then. But, on : six Barbary horses 
against six French swords, their assigns, and three liberal- 
conceited carriages; that 's the French bet against the 
Danish. Why is this ' imponed,' as you call it ? 162 

130 



Act V, Scene 2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Osr. The king, sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes 
between yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three 
hits : he hath laid on twelve for nine ; and it would come 
to immediate trial, if your lordship would vouchsafe the 
answer. 167 

Ham. How if I answer ' no ' ? 

Osr. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person 
in trial. 170 

Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall: if it please 
his majesty, 't is the breathing time of day with me ; let 
the foils be brought, the gentleman willing, and the king 
hold his purpose, I will win for him an I can ; if not, I 
will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits. 17s 

Osr. Shall I re-deliver you e'en so ? 

Ham. To this effect, sir; after what flourish your 
nature will. 

Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. 179 

Ham. Yours, yours. [Exit Osric] He does well to 
commend it himself ; there are no tongues else for 's turn. 

Hor. This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head. 

Ham. He did comply with his dug, before he sucked 
it. Thus has he — and many more of the same breed 
that I know the drossy age dotes on — only got the tune 
of the time and the outward habit of encounter ; a kind 
of yesty collection, which carries them through and 
through the most fond and winnowed opinions; and do 
but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out. 189 

Enter a Lord. 

Lord. My lord, his majesty commended him to you 
by young Osric, who brings back to him, that you attend 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene 2. 

him in the hall : he sends to know if your pleasure hold 
to play with Laertes, or that you will take longer time. 

Ham. I am constant to my purposes ; they follow the 
king's pleasure : if his fitness speaks, mine is ready ; 
now or whensoever, provided I be so able as now. 196 

Lord. The king and queen and all are coming down. 

Ham. In happy time. 

Lord. The Queen desires you to use some gentle 
entertainment to Laertes before you fall to play. 200 

Ham. She well instructs me. [Exit Lord. 

Hor. You will lose this wager, my lord. 

Ham. I do not think so : since he went into France, 
I have been in continual practice ; I shall win at the 
odds. But thou wouldst not think how ill all 's here 
about my heart : but it is no matter. 206 

Hor. Nay, good my lord, — • 

Ham. It is but foolery ; but it is such a kind of gain- 
giving as would perhaps trouble a woman. 

Hor. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it : I will 
forestall their repair hither, and say you are not fit. 211 

Ham.. Not a whit, we defy augury : there 's a special 
providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 't is 
not to come ; if it be not to come, it will be now ; if it be 
not now, yet it will come : the readiness is all : since no 
man has aught of what he leaves, what is 't to leave 
betimes? 217 

Enter King, Queen, Laertes, Lords, Osric and Attend- 
ants with foils, dfc. 

King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me. 
[The King puts Laertes^ hand into Hamlefs. 
132 



Act V, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 

Ham. Give me your pardon, sir : I 've done you 
wrong ; 
But pardon 't, as you are a gentleman. 220 

This presence knows, 

And you must needs have heard, how I am punished 
With sore distraction. What I have done, 
That might your nature, honor and exception 
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness. 22s 

Was 't Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet : 
If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away. 
And when he 's not himself does wrong Laertes, 
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it. 
Who does it, then ? His madness : if 't be so, 230 

Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged ; 
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy. 
Sir, in this audience. 
Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil 
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts, 235 

That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house, 
And hurt my brother. 

Laer. I am satisfied in nature. 

Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most 
To my revenge : but in my terms of honor 
I stand aloof ; and will no reconcilement, 240 

Till by some elder masters, of known honor, 
I have a voice and precedent of peace. 
To keep my name ungored. But till that time, 
I do receive your offered love like love, 
And will not wrong it. 

Ham. I embrace it freely ; 245 

And will this brother's wager frankly play. 

133 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene 2. 

Give us the foils. Come on. 

Laer. Come, one for me. 

Ham. I '11 be your foil, Laertes : in mine ignorance 
Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night, 
Stick fiery off indeed. 

Laer. You mock me, sir. 250 

Ham. No, by this hand. 

King. Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin 
Hamlet, 
You know the wager ? 

Ham. Very well, my lord ; 

Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker side. 

King. I do not fear it ; I have seen you both : 255 

But since he is bettered, we have therefore odds. 

Laer. This is too heavy, let me see another. 

Ham. This Hkes me well. These foils have all a 
length? [They prepare to play, 

Osr. Ay, my good lord. 

King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that table. 260 
If Hamlet give the first or second hit. 
Or quit in answer of the third exchange, 
Let all the battlements their ordnance fire ; 
The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath ; 
And in the cup an union shall he throw, 26s 

Richer than that which four successive kings 
In Denmark's crown have worn. Give me the cups ; 
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak, ' 

The trumpet to the cannoneer without. 
The cannpns to the heavens, the heavens to earth, 270 
' Now the king drinks to Hamlet.' Come, begin: 
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye. 



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Act V, Scene 2. Hamlet, Prince 


of 


Denmark. 


Ham. Come on, sir. 






Laer. Come, my lord. 




[They play. 


Ham. One. 






Laer. 


No. 




Ham. 




Judgment. 



Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit. 

Laer. Well; again. 

King. Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is 
thine ; 27s 

Here 's to thy health. 

[Trumpets sound, and cannon shot of within. 
Give him the cup. 

Ham. I '11 play this bout first ; set it by awhile. 
Come. [They play.] Another hit ; what say you? 

Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess. 

King. Our son shall win. 

Queen. He 's fat, and scant of breath. 280 

Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows : 
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. 

Ham. Good madam ! 

King. Gertrude, do not drink. 

. Queen. I will, my lord ; I pray you, pardon me. 

King. [Aside] It is the poisoned cup ; it is too late. 

Ham. I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by. 286 

Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face. 

Laer. My lord, I 'U hit him now. 

King. I do not think 't. 

Laer. [Aside] And yet 't is almost 'gainst my con- 
science. 

Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes : you but dally ; 290 
I pray you, pass with your best violence ; 

13s 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene 2. 

I am afeard you make a wanton of me.* 

Laer. Say you so ? Come on. [They play. 

Osr. Nothing, neither way. 294 

Laer. Have at you now ! 

[Laertes wounds Hamlet; then, in scuffling, they 
change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes. 

King. Part them ; they are incensed. 

Ham. Nay, come, again. [The Queen falls. 

Osr. Look to the queen there, ho I 

Hor. They bleed on both sides. How is it, my lord ? 

Osr. How is 't, Laertes? 

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, 
Osric ; 
I am justly killed with mine own treachery. 300 

Ham. How does the queen? 

King. She swounds to see them bleed. 

Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink, — ■ O my dear 
Hamlet, — 
The drink, the drink ! I am poisoned. [Dies. 

Ham. O villany ! Ho ! let the door be locked : 
Treachery ! Seek it out. 30s 

Laer. It is here, Hamlet : Hamlet, thou art slain ; 
No medicine in the world can do thee good ; 
In thee there is not half an hour of life ; 
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, 
Unbated and envenomed : the foul practice 310 

Hath turned itself on me ; lo, here I lie. 
Never to rise again : thy mother's poisoned : ' 
I can no more : the king, the king 's to blame. 

Ham. The point ! — envenomed too ! 
Then, venom, to thy work. [Stabs the King. 315 

136 



Act V, Scene 2. Hamlet, PHnce of Denmark. 



AIL Treason ! treason ! 

King. O, yet defend me, friends ; I am but hurt. 

Ham. Here, thou Hcentious, murderous, damned Dane, 
Drink off this potion. Is thy union here ? 
Follow my mother. [King dies. 

Laer. He is justly served ; 320 

It is a poison tempered by himself. 
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet : 
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee, 
Nor thine on me ! [Dies. 

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it ! I follow thee. 325 
I am dead, Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu ! 
You that look pale and tremble at this chance. 
That are but mutes or audience to this act. 
Had I but time — as this fell sergeant, death , 
Is strict in his arrest — O, I could teU you — 330 

But let it be. Horatio, I am dead ; 
Thou Hvest ; report me and my cause aright 
To the unsatisfied. 

Hor. Never believe it : 

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane : 
Here 's yet some hquor left. 

Ham. As thou 'rt a man, 335 

Give me the cup : let go ; by heaven, I '11 have 't. 
O good Horatio, what a wounded name. 
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me ! 
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart. 
Absent see from felicity awhile, 340 

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, 
To tell my story. [March afar of, and shot within. 

What warlike noise is this ? 

137 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Act v, Scene 2. 

Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from 
Poland, 
To the ambassadors of England gives 
This warHke volley. 

Ham. O, I die, Horatio ; 34S 

The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit : 
I cannot live to hear the news from England ; 
But I do prophesy the election hghts 
On Fortinbras : he has my dying voice ; 
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less, 350 

Which have solicited. The rest is silence. [Dies.' 

Hot. Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet 
prince ; 
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest ! 
Why does the drum come hither? [March within. 

Enter Fortinbras, the Enghsh Ambassadors, and others. 

Fort. Where is this sight ? 

Ear. What is it ye would see ? 

If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search. 356 

Fort. This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death , 
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell. 
That thou so many princes at a shot 
So bloodily hast struck ? 

First Amh. The sight is dismal; 360 

And our affairs from England come too late : 
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing 
To tell him his commandment is fulfilled, 
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead : 364 

Where should we have our thanks ? 

Hor. Not from his mouth, 

138 



Act V, Scene 2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 

Had it the ability of life to thank you : 

He never gave commandment for their death. 

But since, so jump upon this bloody question, 

You from the Polack wars, and you from England, 

Are here arrived, give order that these bodies 370 

High on a stage be placed to the view ; 

And let me speak to the yet unknowing world 

How these things came about : so shall you hear 

Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, 

Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, 375 

Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause, 

And, in this upshot, purposes mistook 

Fallen on the inventors' heads : all this can I 

Truly deliver. 

Fort. Let us haste to hear it, 

And call the noblest to the audience. 380 

For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune : 
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, 
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me. 

Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak. 
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more : 385 
But let this same be presently performed. 
Even while men's minds are wild ; lest more mischance. 
On plots and errors, happen. 

Fort. Let four captains 

Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage ; 
For he was likely, had he been put on, 390 

To have proved most royally : and, for his passage, 
The soldiers' music and the rites of war 
Speak loudly for him. 
Take up the bodies : such a sight as this 

139 



Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Act v, Scene 2. 

Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. 39s 

Go, bid the soldiers shoot. 

[A dead march. Exeunt, bearing of the dead 
bodies; after which a peal of ordnance is shot off. 



140 



A LIST OF THE PERSONS OF THE DRAMA, WITH THE 
SCENES IN WHICH THEY APPEAR 

Claudius i 2, ii 2, iii i 2 3, iv i 3 5 7, v i 2. 

Hamlet . i 2 4 5, 11 2, iii i 2 3 4, iv 2 3 4, v 12. 

POLONIUS I 2 3, II I 2, III I 2 3 4. 

Horatio . . . . . . i i 2 4 5, iii 2, iv 5 6, v i 2. 

Laertes . . . . . . . i 2 3, iv 5 7, v i 2. 

voltimand i 2, ii 2. 

Cornelius i 2, 11 2. 

ROSENCRANTZ II 2, IH I 2 3, IV I 2 3 4. 

GUILDENSTERN II 2, III I 2 3, IV I 2 3 4. 

OSRIC V 2. 

A Gentleman iv 5. 

A Priest v i. 

Marcellus ." I I 2 4 5. 

Bernardo 112. 

Francisco 11. 

ReYNALDO . II I. 

Players 11 2, ill 2. 

Two Clowns ...... V I. 

Fortinbras IV 4, V 2. 

A Captain iv 4. 

English Ambassadors . . . v 2 . 

Gertrude . i 2, 11 2, iii i 2 4, iv i 5 7, v i 2. 

Ophelia i 3, 11 i, iii i 2, iv 5. 

Ghost I I 4 5, III 4. 



141 



APPENDIX 

ORIGIN AND PUBLICATION OF "HAMLET" 

Shakespeare produced his plays and poems during 
a period of twenty years, which is almost equally divided 
by the close of the sixteenth century. Before ,, Hamlet ''■ 
1600 most of the comedies had been written, marks a 
together with all the historical plays except shak^^ ^^ 
"Henry VIII." Of the tragedies only two speare's 
had appeared — "Romeo and Juliet" and ^^^t^ods. 
"Titus Andronicus." After 1600 came the series of 
great tragedies — " Julius Caesar," "Hamlet," "Othello," 
"King Lear," "Macbeth," and "Antony and Cleopatra." 
The year mentioned marked a change in the growth of 
his genius, a time when he was no longer satisfied to 
express his thoughts and ideas about life in comedies 
and historical plays and turned to something with 
deeper dramatic significance. 

The first plays in which the change is seen — "Julius 
Caesar" and "Hamlet" — show some interesting resem- 
blances. A study of the language reveals cer- ^, . ^ , 
. 1 1 1 • i- 1 ^^® ideal- 

tain points of similarity, and the chief charac- ist in the 

ters have not a little in common. Both plays world of 

action, 
deal with the idealist thrust into the world of 

action. Brutus as well as Hamlet is unfitted for the work 

he is called upon to do ; both, in the end, bungle it badly 

143 



Appendix. 

— Hamle t jhrough delay and uncertainty, Brutus from 
errors of judgment. The peculiar difficulties which 
would naturally beset men of this type — their reaction 
to the circumstances in which they found themselves — 
presented a dramatic problem which had a strong attrac- 
tion for Shakespeare at this period ; Hamlet, indeed, 
may well be considered the finished picture of which 
Brutus was the first sketch. In "King Henry V," 
written only a year or so before '^ Julius Caesar," he had 
set forth a strong and heroic man* of action — a leader 
who could reanimate his drooping soldiers by a "little 
touch of Harry in the night " ; the two later plays portray 
men, temperamentally unfitted for action, placed in 
positions where action is imperative. What will such 
men do in the circumstances ? — that is the central 
theme. "Hamlet cannot act," says Professor Dowden, 
" because his moral energy is sapped by a kind ... of 
despair about life, because his ideas are more to him than 
deeds. . . . Brutus does act, but he acts as an idealist 
and theorizer might, with no eye for the actual bearing 
of facts, and no sense of the true importance of persons 
... his public action is a series of practical mistakes." 
Brutus says: 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing 
And the first motion, all the interim is 
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream, 

and Hamlet : 

The time is out of joint : O, cursed spite 
That ever I was born to set it right ! 

144 



Origin and Publication. 

The mental attitude expressed by such despairing utter- 
ances as these indicates a moral fiber that cannot hold 
out against "the wreckful siege of battering days." 
Very different is the spirit in which Henry V meets his 
problems : 

'T is true we are in great danger ; 

The greater, therefore, should our courage be. . . 

There is some soul of goodness in things evil, 

Would men observingly distil it out. 

Much has been written upon the reasons for this 
change in Shakespeare's point of view — this turning 
to the darker truths of life.^ Here, however, we can only 
call attention to the fact and proceed to discuss the 
matter of how ''Hamlet" came into existence. 

Young persons studying a Shakespearian play for the 
first time are often surprised, and sometimes even dis- 
tressed, to learn that the stories of the drama- originality 
tist's works were not original with him. Origi- of plot un- 
nality of plot seems to them the chief requi- ^"^p^^*^"*- 
site of greatness; a worker in second-hand material 
falls under their scorn ; they begin to wonder just why 
this borrower of other men's ideas has been rated so 
highly and so profoundly admired by their elders. This 
is not strange. Action, movement, complication of 
events, — all that goes to make up a plot, — is interest- 
ing and therefore important to boys and girls. They are 
naturally more concerned with what the hero does, than 
how he does it, or how he talks, or what he is like. More- 
over, in our novel-reading, inventive age, — in our age 

^ See page 210. 

14s 



Appendix. 

of "movies" and of everything new and startling, — it 
is not surprising that false values are given to things 
just because they are original. It is difficult even for 
mature people to see that originality of plot in story or 
play is really the least important element in the final 
test of its worth. They must be reminded that any one 
with a little clever inventiveness can work out a compli- 
cated and entirely new series of events. Thousands of 
short stories and novels appear every year in our maga- 
zines with plots that are skillfully woven and often 
remarkably original. Beyond that they have nothing 
to recommend them, so that after a moment's curiosity 
to see "how they come out," they are completely neg- 
lected and soon forgotten. The fact that in plot and 
action they are "something new" and clever gives them 
no claim whatsoever to the enduring fame of literature. 

It is therefore not a sign of weakness or of a shallow 

mind to find Shakespeare making use of material already 

at his disposal. On the contrary, it is evi- 

Shake- dence of wisdom and good judgment. He 
speare not ° V • i 

a writer of was above bothering his head with new plots 

original ^^ amuse his audiences. All his mind and 

stones. 

skill and strength were needed for more essen- 
tial things. Old plays, Italian novels, Plutarch's Lives, 
chronicles of EngUsh history, furnished him with inci- 
dents and characters with which to work. The best 
elements of these he skillfully chose, made over, and com- 
bined ; but next to nothing did he himself invent. The 
force of his wonderful genius was spent in drawing characr 
ter so clearly and so true to human nature that the men 
and women of his plays became distinct personalities 

146 



Origin and Publication. 

that have lived now for three hundred years in the 
hearts of the people. Falstaff, Portia, Shylock, Rosalind, 
Hamlet, Desdemona, Macbeth, Juliet, Lear, — these 
are as real as any who have lived in the annals of history. 
Then again, the language and the poetry of the plays, 
the sentiments, the wit, and above all the artistic blending 
of thought and character and action, are his and his alone. 
The sources of the stories which Shakespeare used no 
one ever reads. They are commonplace, flat, and un- 
worthy of our interest. Yet these same stories re- 
molded, polished, and filled with the inspiration of 
Shakespeare's genius, have become masterpieces of 
literature. 

It is well that Shakespeare was not attracted to the 
inventing of elaborate and original plots, for he must 

have been busy enough as it was. In their . , 

. . Advantages 

demand for novelty m stage attractions of using old 

audiences then required a new play, on an material 
^ ^ / , for plays, 

average of every sixteen or seventeen days. 

Intense rivalry existed between the various companies 

of actors. In their struggle for popularity, which meant 

their daily bread, playwrights turned off their work with 

astonishing rapidity. Thus in the twenty years of his 

London activity Shakespeare wrote, in whole or in part, 

about forty plays. "Driven by the necessity of speed 

on the one hand, and by anxiety to catch the popular 

fancy on the other, is it any wonder thai he never stopped 

to devise a plot? What need was there that he should 

do so? The manager of the company had many an old 

play which, at one time or another, had been submitted 

to the test of public approval. ... To such plays, if 



Appendix. 

selected for revision, a certain amount of popularity was 
thus assured in advance ; and as for the plot, — the 
barest skeleton sufficed for Shakespeare. He knew that 
he could remodel it into fair proportions and relume it 
with life. Of all that goes to make up one of his dramas, 
the plot in itself, in its mere outlines, is of less importance 
than any other element in it. Of course, in the nature 
of things, it is not to be supposed that after he had selected 
the old play to be rejuvenated he either adhered to it 
closely, or refused hints from other sources. Old ballads, 
books of travels, histories, the gossip of the day, — all 
were put under contribution. As Emerson says : ' Every 
master has found his materials collected, and power 
lay in his sympathy with his people, and in his love for 
the materials he wrought in. ' " ^ 

The story of Hamlet is an ancient legend of the North. 
It was first set forth in writing in the "Historia t)anica" 
Origin of of Saxo Grammaticus (the " "scholar"), a 
" Hamlet." Danish historian of the twelfth century. His 
work was first printed at Paris, in 15 14. Some years 
later (1570) the tale was included in the "Histoires 
Tragiques" of a French writer, Francis de Belleforest. 
Thence, it was translated into English as "The Hystorie 
of Hamblet." The "Hystorie," with one or two excep- 
tions, closely follows the French version and it may be 
summarized here as indicating the form of the historical 
narrative in Shakespeare's time. 

Horvendile, the father of Hamblet, was treacherously 
slain by his brother Fengon at a banquet. Fengon by 
false witnesses cleared his own name from disgrace and 
1 Dr. H. H. Furness : New Variorum Edition, " Merchant of Venice." 

148 



Origin and Publication. 

married Geruth, wife of the murdered man. Hamblet, 
seeing that Fengon planned to "send him the same way 
his father Horvendile was gone," feigned ^j^^ "Hvs- 
madness. Fengon set spies on him, one of torie of 
whom concealed himself in a room where ^^ ^ ' 
Hamblet was to meet his mother. The prince came 
in and, suspecting treachery, discovered the counselor 
behind the arras. He slew him and then cut the body in 
pieces and disposed of it. In the interview with his 
mother he made her see the evil she had done. Fengon 
after this caused Hamblet to be sent to England and 
dispatched with him two courtiers with written orders 
for his death at the hands of the English king. But 
Hamblet discovered the orders and changed them so 
that they commanded the execution of the courtiers, 
while he himself should receive the daughter of the king 
in marriage. Hamblet stayed in England for a year ; 
then, having seen the courtiers executed and having 
been betrothed to the king's daughter, he returned to 
Denmark. There he found his funeral rites being held, 
but changed them into a great celebration of his return. 
He managed to make all his foes drunk and, as they lay 
helpless in the main hall, set fire to the palace. Then, 
while the castle was burning, he went to his uncle's room, 
woke him up and promptly chopped off his head. The 
people thereupon made him King of Denmark.. Hamblet 
next went to England, but the King tried secretly to put 
him to death ; whereupon he slew the King and ''returned 
again into Denmark with two wives." Another uncle, 
named Wiglerus, then assailed him. He was betrayed 
by one of his wives, and slain. So runs the "Hys torie." 

149 



Appendix. 

This strange, wild tale seems to have attracted the 
attention of English playwrights, for there is evidence 
Early ^^ ^ Hamlet play as early as 1589. It is a 

Hamlet '^revenge" play, and since it was attacked 
^ ^^' by a writer of the day, it must have been 

fairly successful. This writer complains of upstart play- 
makers who "run through every art and thrive by none," 
and says that if any one will take a translation of 
Seneca (a Latin dramatist much admired at the time) 
and ''in treat him faire in a frostie morning, he will 
afford you whole Hamlets, I should say handfulls 
of tragical speaches." Another writer refers to the 
''ghost, which cried so miserably at the theatre, like 
an oyster- wife, Hamlet revenge.^' This early play was 
not by Shakespeare, but was acted by his company in 
1594 — which brings us to the question of Shakespeare's 
"Hamlet." 

As is the case with many of the plays, we find an 
early record of "Hamlet" in the Register of the Stationers 
Shake Company. This famous old organization, 

speare's incorporated in 1556, for nearly three hundred 
*™ ®*- years regulated the publication of books in 
England. It was, indeed, the official method, during 
Queen Elizabeth's reign, of granting a license to a pub- 
lisher. The record for July 26, 1602, among other 
notices of books "allowed to be printed," contains the 
following entry : ^ 

James Robertes, Entered for his copie under the hands of Master ' 
Pas field and master Waterson warden. A booke called " The revenge 
of Hamlett Prince of Denmark " as yt was latlie acted by the Lord 
Chamberleyn his servantes. 

ISO 



Origin and Publication. 

This means, simply: ''The version of 'Hamlet' recently 
acted by Shakespeare's Company." Though "entered," 
it was never printed. The reason for its entry was that 
Roberts wanted to prevent any one else printing the 
play. In the following year, however, it actually was 
printed, with a title-page stating that it was written "by 
William Shake-speare " and had been acted at various 
times by "his Highnesse servantes in the citie of London" 
and at Oxford and Cambridge and elsewhere. It is the 
same play and the same company, which has now passed 
under the patronage of the King, James I. This is the 
earliest version of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" that has come 
down to us. But this first printed version contains 
many obvious faults — so many, indeed, that it is now 
considered to be a "pirated" edition, issued without any 
authority and based on a rough copy made in the theater 
by a shorthand writer. It is known as the "First 
Quarto. " ^ In those days, while a play was still popular 
on the stage the author tried to keep it out of print, 
fearing that its appearance in book form might hurt 
attendance at the theater. But here was a case where 
an unauthorized edition had appeared, and one which 
(as we shall see presently) was calculated to give a false 
idea of the play. Some one, therefore — the manager 
of the company, or the printer James Roberts, or 
Shakespeare himself — was stirred up to issue another 
edition which should be a true rendering of the drama. 
In 1604, then, appeared the "Second Quarto." The 
title-page is emphatic : 

^See page 201. 



Appendix. 

THE 

Tragicall Historie of 

HAMLET, 

Prince of Denmarke. 

By William Shakespeare. 

New imprinted and enlarged to almost as much again 

as it was, according to the true and perfect Coppie. 

AT LONDON, 

Printed by I. R. for N. L. and are to be sold at his 

shoppe under Saint Dunstons Church in 

Fleetstreet, 1604. 

This version is immensely superior to the edition of 1603 
in sense and accuracy, and was evidently intended to 
drive the latter out of the market. Two other quartos 
appeared during Shakespeare's lifetime, and two more 
after his death — the last in 1637. All these are virtual 
reprints of the Second Quarto. The collected edition 
of the plays published in 1623 — the famous "First 
Folio "^ — contains a " Hamlet " which differs in some 
respects from the Second Quarto ; it is not so long and 
it has a few passages which are not found in the Quarto. 
The play in its present form — the "authorized text" — 
is based upon a combination of the Quarto and the Folio 
editions. ■* 

The matter may be briefly summed up. The com- 
pany of players to which Shakespeare belonged possessed 
an old crude "HamJet" of the "revenge" type, which 
they acted between 1589 and 1600. The company met 
^ See page 201. 

152 



Origin and Publication. 

with diflSculties in London and was forced to ''travel" 
(see II. 2 in the play), and Shakespeare used this old play 
for a rapidly written drama which was first 
acted in 1601. When the company returned 
to London, their play was pirated by an unscrupulous 
bookseller (probably by means of a shorthand writer in the 
theater) and published as a quarto in 1603. The stu- 
pidity of the shorthand writer is shown by such crudities 
as "Rossencraft and Gilderstone" for "Rosencrantz 
and Guildenstern," and by the utter absurdity of render- 
ings like this version of the opening lines of Hamlet's 
soliloquy (HI. i. 56 ff.) : 

To be or not to be, I there 's the point, 
To die, to sleepe, is that all ? I all : 
No, to sleepe, to dreame, I mary there it goes. 
For in that dreame of death, when wee awake, 
And borne before an everlasting Judge ; 
From whence no passenger ever returned, 
The undiscovered country, at whose sight 
The happy smile, and the accursed damn'd. 

A correct and authorized edition was put forth. in 1604 — 
the Second Quarto. But, as frequently happens on the 
stage during a long "run," the play needed cutting and 
changing as time went on. Some of the speeches proved 
too long; now and then new passages were added. 
These changes were made in the acting-copy, and when 
Shakespeare's friends published the great Folio of 1623 
they used the amended stage version as the basis of their 
text. Scholars have made a correlation of the two texts 
and from this correlation has come our present" Hamlet." 

153 



Appendix. 

It will readily be understood that such revision and 
alteration gave rise to puzzling complications in the 
text ; ; there are several obscure passages, and some which 
have never been satisfactorily cleared up. These obscuri- 
ties, however, present little real difficulty. The story 
itself is interesting ; the characters stand vividly before 
us, while the struggle between Hamlet's wish to do what 
he knows ought to be done and his inability to trans- 
late the wish into action, forms a study which grows 
more enthralling as we read on into the play.] ''The 
amount of ingenious discussion on certain difficult places 
in ' Hamlet ' tends to give a wrong impression of the play. 
Careless scribes, careless typesetters, Elizabethan actors 
carelessly inserting changes in the text, have all left 
their marks, but nevertheless in almost every instance 
so clear is the thought, so compelling the emotion of 
the whole passage that he who is able to respond to the 
feeling may pass swiftly 'on, nor miss it because of those 
moments when the exact meaning is dubious. Read 
again and again, each time ' Hamlet ' will reveal new 
beauties in its combined accuracy and imaginativeness of 
phrase, its profundity and fidelity of characterization, 
and its subtle surmounting of technical dramaturgic 
difficulties. It is the masterpiece of Shakespeare's 
masterpieces." ^ 

1 From the Introduction to Shakespeare's Hamlet, edited by George 
P. Baker (Tudor Edition). Used by permission of The Macmillan 
Company, Publishers. 



IS4 



The Supposed Difficulties. 



THE SUPPOSED DIFFICULTIES OF "HAMLET" 

More has been written about " Hamlet," probably, 
than about any other of Shakespeare's plays. Especially 
during the last hundred years has this been << Hamlet " 
the case. In England, in France, in Ger- and the 
many — more particularly in Germany — critics, 
scholars have toiled to interpret the meaning of the play. 
Some of their suggestions and theories are wise; some 
are not ; a few are amazing. They differ not only about 
the meaning, but about the actual events, about what 
actually occurred. Where was Hamlet when the murder 
of his father took place ? Was he mad, or only pretend- 
ing? Was he really in love with Ophelia? How much 
did his mother know? Is the play an allegory of life, 
filled with Shakespeare's theories of good and evil, 
wherein the very names of the characters have a mys- 
terious significance? The net result of all this is that 
many people have come to consider "Hamlet" a very 
difficult play, full of perplexing problems. 

But if we remember a few elementary facts, we shall 
find that there ought to be no real difficulty for the person 
of average intelligence. Let us forget, for Not a dif- 
the moment, all about the scholars and the ^^ult play, 
critics, and think of one or two simple things. In the 
first place, ''Hamlet" was written by a man who was 
an actor and who had been associated with actors all 
his life. In the second place, it was written as a play, 
not as a philosophical problem ; a play to be acted on 
a stage before an audience. Again, it was intended not 



Appendix. 

for an audience of scholars and critics, but for the ordinary 
man. Lastly, it was understood and enjoyed by the 
ordinary man before any of the modern critical opinion 
had come into existence. ; To the playgoers of Shake- 
speare's time and later there was nothing mysterious 
about " Hamlet." What held these audiences was the 
interest of the story, the masterly character-drawing, 
the effective dramatic situations, the noble verse. 

The best way to understand the play is, of course, to 
see it acted ; the next best way is to read it aloud with 
a group of friends. A certain " background knowledge" 
of Shakespeare and his times is necessary, to be sure; 
but if the play be read as a play, with due regard to what 
the author aimed at in his characters and situations, 
most, if not all, of the supposed difficulties will disappear. 

The development of this drama, which has fascinated 
so many playgoers, is, after all, neither obscure nor 
involved. A young prince, manly, popular, 
well educated, suddenly loses his father under 
circumstances that are peculiarly painful to him. He 
is summoned home from college, finds that his uncle is 
in possession of the kingdom which he himself is heir to, 
and that the marriage of his mother has ''followed hard 
upon." His deep love for his father causes him the 
keenest suffering. He cannot reconcile himself to the 
new state of affairs and while he is still burdened 
with this load of grief there appears to him the spirit 
of his father with a tale of surpassing horror. What 
will he do? Denounce the murderer? But there is 
no evidence in support of so incredible an accusation — 
he has but the word of a ghost. Can he slay the King? 

156 



The Supposed Difficulties. 

But the King is married to his mother and is, moreover^ 
his father's brother. Would he look about him for help ? 
There is no one to turn to. His friends fail him in time 
of need : Ophelia, the girl he loves, proves weak and 
untrustworthy ; his two fellow-students turn out to be 
spies of the King; Polonius is nothing but a "tedious 
old fool." Horatio, indeed, remains — but how can 
Horatio help him? 

He is alone ; but he has no real privacy. He is watched 
almost from the first moment of the play. Under the 
constant sense of espionage, he feigns madness. This 
is a disguise under which he finds relief for his dis- 
tempered thoughts and an opportunity to work out 
some plan. 

What will be done in these peculiarly difficult cir- 
cumstances ? This is the problem that interested Shake- 
speare, and that interests us. Hamlet finds out the 
truth eventually by means of the Players. What next? 
He has a chance to slay the King — shall he seize it ? 
Would a man of his training and antecedents stab 
treacherously, from behind ? Shakespeare knew, and we 
know, that the thing was impossible. So, with his problem 
still unsolved, he is shipped off to England; he escapes 
and comes back. 

But now he has made up his mind — "the interim 
is mine." What was the plan of revenge we are not 
permitted to see, however, for the treachery of the King 
brings about his death within a very short period after 
his return, before he has time to act. Would he eventu- 
ally have accomplished his vengeance? This we can 
never know — "the rest is silence." 

157 



Appe-ndix. 

Summarizing thus, we find nothing that Hes outside 
the range of our own thoughts about Hfe. The play is 
The play a ^^^ intended to teach a lesson in mental condi- 
section of tions ; it is not intended to teach any lesson ; 
^ ®' it is a piece of life set before us on the stage. 

If we realize this, and realize, too, how Shakespeare has 
breathed into his work the very breath of life, our minds 
will be freed from the weight of problems and theories 
and we shall not find anything that we fail to under- 
stand. 



IS8 



The Meter. 



THE METER OF ''HAMLET 



In writing his plays Shakespeare used the poetical 
form known as "blank verse." The reason why he wrote 
in poetry was that it had become established as the 
proper medium for dramatic work during the growth of 
the drama in the past few centuries. The Mysteries 
and Miracle Plays, and the Moralities/ were all written 
in verse — very crude for the most part, but showing 
the wish and effort to differentiate the language of the 
stage from the language of everyday life. As time went 
on and the taste of the public began slightly to improve, 
there came to be some endeavor to create a higher type 
of poetry for dramatic work. Thus, about the middle 
of the sixteenth century (1562) we find a play written in 
English blank verse. This play was called " Gorboduc " 
and, though stilted and artificial, and uninteresting from 
our point of view, it possesses for the student of literature 
two features of great value : it marks the beginning of 
true English tragedy, and it shows the possibilities of 
a verse-form much more dignified than that which had 
so long been used in the older stage performances. 

This verse-form was employed by Christopher Marlowe 
when he wrote his great tragedies, " Tamburlaine," 
''Dr. Faustus," and ''The Jew of Malta." He makes 
his reason perfectly clear : 

From jigging veins of rhyming mother wits. 
And such conceits as clownage keeps in pay ; 
We '11 lead you to the stately tents of war. . . . 

1 See pages 230-231. 

159 



Appendix. 

The '^rhyming mother wits" and the jests of "clownage" 
refer, of course, to the rough poetry and the rougher 
horse-play of the Mysteries and Moralities. Marlowe 
plainly says that his verse will aim at greater things 
than have been accomplished in the past. As a matter 
of fact he did what he expected to do. His poetry was 
deeply admired by his contemporaries, and twenty-five 
years after the appearance of the tame and pedestrian 
blank verse of ^'Gorboduc," "Marlowe's mighty line" 
brought about a revolution in the writing of the English 
drama. While not actually originating the form, he 
made it an entirely new thing and conferred upon it 
new power and vitality. '^ Shakespeare absorbed it, 
and gave it out again with its familiar cadences in ' Romeo 
and Juliet,' and later with many broad and lovely modi- 
fications. It has become the life-blood of our literature ; 
Marlowe's place is at the heart of English poetry, and 
his pulses still thrill in our verse." 

The blank verse line used by Shakespeare is known as 
*' iambic pentameter" — which means that it is made up 
of five "iambic" feet, or units, each foot consisting of 
two syllables with the accent on the second. Thus, 

we should indicate the meter of "Hamlet" as follows: 
y / / / / 

If thou I didst e|ver hold | me in | thy heart, | 

Absent | thee from | felic|ity | awhile,| 

/ / / / / 

And in | this harsh | world draw | thy breath | in pain | 

(V. 2. 339-42) 

Of course, if this were the only form of the line it would 
soon grow very monotonous — as, indeed, it did become 

160 



The Meter. 

when first introduced. There must be many variations, 
many interchanges of the feet and shif tings of the accent, 
if the Hne is to serve its purpose to the full. This is 
just what happens in Shakespeare's plays. He begins 
with a restricted use of the meter, but as time goes on 
he uses it with more freedom and therefore with greater 
effect, until at last it becomes in his hands a perfect in- 
strument for the expression of what he has to say. His 
use of blank verse, however, is too large a subject for 
discussion here : all that can be done is briefly to indicate 
a few of the variations in '' Hamlet," which may serve to 
give some idea of Shakespeare's freedom and mastery. 

The passage quoted above illustrates the typical 
Shakespearian line — five feet, each of two syllables ; 
each foot having one accent, on the second syllable. 
Here are a few of the variations from this normal type : 

1. Accent inversion. Sometimes the accent falls on 
the first syllable of the foot instead of on the second : 

Costly I thy hab|it as | thy purse [ can buy | (I. 3. 70) 

But this I most foul | strange and | unnat |ural | (I. 5. 28) 

/ / / / / 

This a|bove all | : to thine | own self | be true | (I. 3., 78) 

2. Extra syllables. These may come either within 

the line or at the end : 

/ / V V • / / 

Let it I be ten|able in | your si|lence still | (I. 2. 247) 

• • / / / 

Whether | 't is no|bler in | the mind | to suf|fer 

/ / / / / 

The slings | and ar|rows of | outrag|eous f or | tune 

(in. 1. 57-8) 
161 



Appendix. 

3. Omission of syllables. There are many instances in 
'' Hamlet." 

y / / / / 

Your loves, | as mine | to you. | [Farewell. | (I. 2. 253) 

The pause here is filled by a bow or a wave of the hand 
as the three soldiers leave Hamlet. Incomplete lines 
are also used, to denote strong emotion — the gap being 
filled by appropriate action or by a dramatic pause : 

Ay, mar|ry is 't.| (I. 4. 13) 

Saw?| Who?| (I. 2. 189) 

I will I not speak | with her.| (IV. 5. i) 

Many other irregularities occur in Shakespeare's blank 
verse, but these are sufficient to indicate something of his 
method. 

A word should be said here about the use of prose in 
'' Hamlet." It comes quite frequently and always for very 
definite reasons. Such use of prose is a mark of Shake- 
speare's maturity ; in his early plays it does not appear, 
or appears very seldom. But as he gains in experience he 
introduces prose to vary the monotony of the verse and, 
more particularly, as the fitting mode of expression for 
comic characters or persons in the lower walks of life. 
Note, in " Hamlet," how appropriately it is brought in. 
Hamlet talks prose with the Players (II. 2, III. 2), with the 
Clowns (V. i), and with Osric (V. 2). He employs the 
same medium when he is acting the madman : observe 
especially the change from blank verse to prose when he 
begins to suspect Ophelia (III. i). Prose is also used in 
the letters and in the speech of servants. Other examples 

162 



The Meter. 

— outside of " Hamlet " — of prose employed for strong 
effects are to be seen in " Macbeth " (the Porter and Sleep- 
walking Scenes) and in " Juhus Caesar " (Casca's conversa- 
tion in Act I and Brutus's speech in Act III). The prose 
passages are characterized by the same care as that which 
distinguishes the poetry, and are always employed for 
definite dramatic purposes. 

Perhaps the most interesting thing (from our present 
point of view) about Shakespeare's blank verse is the fact 
that it lends itself so perfectly to the expression of what 
each character has to say. One realizes to the full, when 
listening to some great actor in any one of the great parts, 
how fittingly thought and expression are united. It is 
not always possible, however, thus to come in contact 
with the masters of interpretation; but we may still 
test for ourselves to some extent the degree of Shake- 
speare's mastery over his tools. Viewing the opening scene 
of '' Hamlet " on the stage, one does not realize that the 
whole is composed in poetry. So carefully is the dialogue 
managed, with such understanding and such infinite pains, 
that the use of blank verse adds vividness and power to 
a situation of exceptional strength. Let us visualize the 
thing for ourselves. Night; a single sentry pacing his 
lonely rounds under the star-strewn sky; deadly silence 
and bitter cold. Perhaps, beneath the ramparts, the long 
wash of the northern sea. The sentry does not hear the 
approach of his relief, and it is the latter who speaks first : 

Bernardo. Who's there? 

Francisco. Nay, answer me : stand and unfold yourself. 

Bern. Long live the king ! 

163 



Appendix. 

Fran. Bernardo ? 

Bern. He. 

Fran. You come most carefully upon your hour. 

Bern. 'Tis now struck twelve: get thee to bed, 

Francisco. 
Fran. For this relief much thanks : 't is bitter cold, 
And I am sick at heart. 

Bern. Have you had quiet guard ? 

Fran. Not a mouse stirring. 

Bern. Well, good night. . . . 

Why was Francisco "sick at heart"? Why that rather 
anxious question of Bernardo's about ''quiet guard"? 
They are expecting something. Note how the interest 
becomes intensified upon the entrance of Horatio and 
Marcellus. Read the scene through aloud, intelligently, 
making it your aim to emphasize the speeches as they ought 
to be emphasized: you will be amazed to find how the 
rhythm of the blank verse leads the reading voice towards 
the correct interpretation. Here is a case where Shake- 
speare has not only indicated by the broken lines a strain 
and intensity of feeling, but has made the poetical form 
heighten, in a way that prose could never do, the intensity 
and the strain. That is, really, the wonderful thing 
about all of Shakespeare's blank verse — it actually en- 
forces the correct interpretation. Read over (aloud, 
once more) Hamlet's outburst of grief when he is left 
alone in the second scene of the first Act : 

O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, . . . 

and note how finely the movement of the verse brings out 

164 



The Meter. 

the bewilderment and the hopeless sorrow of the speaker. 
Take the speech at the end of the second Act : 

O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I ! 

Mark with what mastery the verse leads on the voice and 
the thought — through self-reproach and unreasoning 
fury to the deliberate planning at the close. Or, once 
more, consider the most famous of all the soliloquies : 

To be, or not to be, that is the question. . . . 

Is it not true that here one is compelled by the very 
structure and the strong forward march of the lines to 
read slowly and to ponder as one reads ? 

These considerations are not fanciful ; their truth will 
soon grow manifest to any thoughtful student of the play. 
And what has been said is merely a statement of the fact 
(which becomes clearer the more we familiarize ourselves 
with his work) that Shakespeare was a master in the use 
of the medium which he chose to give his plays to the 
world. 



i6S 



Appendix. 



STAGE HISTORY OF 'HAMLET" 

Some one has well said that the history of "Hamlet" 
is practically the history of the English-speaking stage. 
"Hamlet" ^^^ three hundred years it has engaged the 
on ship- attention of actor and audience more than any 
°^^ ' other play of Shakespeare. It has been the 

test by which the greatest actors have proved their skill. 
Its wide popularity in Shakespeare's own time is best 
shown, perhaps, by the fact that in 1607 it was acted 
on board an English ship at sea. In September of that 
year Captain Keeling, of the Dragon, was sailing to the 
East Indies in company with the Hector, Captain Hawkins. 
On the 5th, and again on the 31st of that month, "Hamlet " 
was performed by the crew of the Dragon. Captain 
Keeling writes: "I invited Captain Hawkins to a fish 
dinner, and had Hamlet acted aboard me : wch. I permit 
to keep my people from unlawful games, or sleepe." One 
would give much for further details of this performance. 

The first actor to take the part of Hamlet was Richard 
Burbage, a friend of Shakespeare's and the leading player 
Famous of his company. The fine tradition of his act- 
actors, jng was carried on by Thomas Betterton after 
1660. Betterton's acting is referred to by Samuel Pepys 
(by no means a kindly critic) in his " Diary " as " the best 
part, I believe, that ever man acted." Betterton is said 
to have introduced scenery into the play — for we must 
remember that the scenery of Shakespeare's day existed 
largely in the imagination of the audience. David Gar- 
rick, Dr. Johnson's friend, was the leading interpreter of 

166 



Stage History. 

the part from 1734 to 1776. He made many alterations 
of his own in the text, chief of which was the omission 
of the Graveyard Scene. During the later years of the 
eighteenth century appeared the actor who, in the opinion 
of many, was the greatest of all Hamlets — John Philip 
Kemble. He restored the original text. Other great 
names in the part are Edmund Kean (1787-1833) ; Wil- 
liam Charles Macready (i 793-1 873), a warm friend of 
Charles Dickens; Edwin Booth (1833-1893) ; Sir Henry 
Irving (1838-1905) ; and, in our own time. Sir Johnston 
Forbes-Robertson, whose interpretation, like that of 
Irving, aroused the strongest interest and enthusiasm in 
this country. Besides the great actors, there is a long 
roll of famous actresses who have taken the parts of 
Ophelia or the Queen. Best known of these is Mrs. 
Siddons, the sister of John Kemble. 

One reason for the enduring popularity of the play 
is stated clearly enough in the words of a recent writer : 
" Forget the critics and it will seem to you that all of us, 
in our degree, must have thought and suffered much like 
Hamlet. We should not have spoken so well, without 
Shakespeare's help, but dumbly or with groans we must 
have pursued those trains of thought. We also might 
have looked at the bright sky, and contrasted it with the 
sudden joylessness of life. Hamlet does this in a passage 
of such splendour as only Shakespeare could have lent 
him. But our 'sky' and his 'canopy' are one. We 
also might have thought of suicide, as Hamlet did, and 
dimly groped into the question of a Hereafter. Hamlet's 
language is again beyond us, but his thoughts are not. 
Hamlet is not an abnormally constituted man acting in 

167 



Appendix. 

an abnormal way. Hamlet is each one of us. He is 
abnormal only in his circumstances and in the scale on 
which he is drawn." ^ 

It is just such considerations as these which have made 
the part of Hamlet the goal of all great players, from 
Burbage to Forbes-Robertson. In its truth to life, not 
less than in its beautiful language and masterly dramatic 
quality, the play remains both for those who act and those 
who look on the greatest of all Shakespearian dramas. 

1 G. L. Gordon. 



i68 



Characters. 



COMMENTS ON THE CHARACTERS 

Here are a few paragraphs from famous critics of Shakespeare. 
They are arranged chronologically. You will note that the character 
of Hamlet has been discussed from the Restoration down to the 
present time, and that there is much difference of opinion as to what 
Shakespeare meant him to be. 

Hamlet 

26 (May 1663). By water to the Royal Theatre; 
but that was so full they told us we could have no room. 
And so to the Duke's house; and there saw "Hamlet" 
done, giving us fresh reason never to think enough of 
Betterton. 

31 (August 1668). To the Duke of York's playhouse, 
and saw "Hamlet," which we have not seen this year 
before, or more ; and mightily pleased with it, but above 
all with Betterton, the best part, I believe, that ever man 

acted. 

— Samuel Pepys, "Diary." 

Our old dramatic poet, Shakespeare, may witness for 
our good ear and manly relish. . . . By the justness of 
his moral, the aptness of many of his descriptions, and 
the plain and natural turn of many of his characters, he 
pleases his audience, and often gains their ear, without a 
single bribe from luxury or vice. 

That piece of his, the tragedy of Hamlet, which appears 
to have most affected English hearts, and has perhaps 
been oftenest acted of any which have come upon our 
stage, is almost one continued moral; a series of deep 

169 



Appendix. 

reflections, drawn from one mouth, upon the subject of 
one single accident and calamity, naturally fitted to move 
horror and compassion. 
■ — Antony, Earl of Shaftesbury, ''Advice to an Author," 1710. 

Now I am come to mention Hamlet's madness, I must 
speak my opinion of our poet's conduct in this particular. 
To conform to the groundwork of his plot, Shakespeare 
makes the young prince feign himself mad. I cannot 
but think this to be injudicious ; for, so far from securing 
himself from any violence which he feared from the usurper, 
which was his design in so doing, it seems to have been 
the most lij^ely way of getting himself confined, and con- 
sequently debarred from an opportunity of revenging 
his father's death. To speak truth, our poet, by keeping 
too close to the groundwork of his plot, has fallen into an 
absurdity ; there appears to be no reason at all in nature 
why this young prince did not put the usurper to death 
as soon as possible, especially as Hamlet is represented 
as a youth so brave and so careless of his own life. The 
case, indeed, is this : had Hamlet gone naturally to work, 
there would have been an end of our play. The poet, 
therefore, was obliged to delay his hero's revenge. His 
beginning his scenes of madness by his behavior to Ophelia 
was judicious, because by this means he might be thought 
to be mad for her, and not that his brain was disturbed 
by state affairs, which would have been dangerous. 

Laertes' character is a very odd one ; it is not easy to 
say whether it is good or bad ; but his consenting to the 
villainous contrivance to murder Hamlet makes him much 
more a bad man than a good one. Surely, revenge for 

170 



Characters. 

such an accidental murder as that of his father could 
never justify him in any treacherous practices. 

It does not appear whether Ophelia's madness was 
chiefly for her father's death or for the loss of Hamlet. 
It is not often that young women run mad for the loss 
of their fathers. It is more natural to suppose that her 
great sorrow proceeded from her father being killed 
by the man she loved, and thereby making it impossible 
for her ever to marry him. 

— Sir Thomas Hanmer, 

"Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet," 1736. 

If the dramas of Shakespeare were to be characterized 
each by the particular excellence which distinguishes it 
from the rest, we must allow to the tragedy of " Hamlet " 
the praise of variety. The incidents are so numerous 
that the argument of the play would make a long tale. 
The scenes are interchangeably diversified with merri- 
ment and solemnity; with merriment that includes 
judicious and instructive observations; and solemnity 
not strained above the natural sentiments of man. New 
characters appear from time to time in continual succession, 
exhibiting various forms of life and particular modes of 
conversation. The pretended madness of Hamlet causes 
much mirth, the mournful distraction of Ophelia fills 
the heart with tenderness, and every personage produces 
the effect intended, from the Apparition, that in the 
First Act chills the blood with horror, to the Fop in the 
last, that exposes affection to just contempt. 

The conduct is perhaps not wholly secure against 
objections. The action is, indeed, for the niost part, 

171 



Appendix. 

in continual progression, but there are some scenes which 
neither forward nor retard it. Of the feigned madness 
of Hamlet there appears no adequate cause, for he does 
nothing which he might not have done with the reputation 
of sanity. He plays the madman most when he treats 
Ophelia with so much rudeness, which seems to be useless 
and wanton cruelty. 
— Dr. Samuel Johnson, ''The Plays of Shakespeare," 1765. 

Hamlet, at the command of his father's ghost, under- 
takes with seeming alacrity to revenge the murder ; and 
declares that he will banish all other thoughts from his 
mind. He makes, however, but one effort to keep his 
word, and that is when he mistakes Polonius for the 
King. On another occasion he defers his purpose until 
he can find an opportunity of taking his uncle when he is 
least prepared for death. Though he assassinated Polo- 
nius by accident, yet he deliberately secures the execu- 
tion of his school-fellows, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 
Their end, as he declares in a subsequent conversation with 
Horatio, gives him no concern, for they obtruded them- 
selves into his affairs and he thought he had a right to 
destroy them. From his brutal conduct towards Ophelia 
he is no less accountable for her distraction and death. 
He interrupts the funeral, at which both the King and 
Queen were present ; and, by such an outrage to decency, 
renders it still more necessary for the usurper to lay a 
second stratagem for his life, though the first had proved 
abortive. . . . Dr. Johnson has observed that to bring 
about a reconciliation with Laertes he has availed him- 
self of a dishonest fallacy ; and to conclude, it is obvious 

172 



Characters. 

to the most careless spectator or reader, that he kills 
the King at last to revenge himself, not his father. 
— George Steevens, 

"The Plays of William Shakespeare," 1778. 

Hamlet's conversation with Laertes immediately before 
the fencing-scene was at the Queen's earnest entreaty; 
and though Dr. Johnson be pleased to give it the harsh 
name of "a dishonest fallacy," there are better, because 
more natural, judges who consider it as a most gentle 
and pathetic address; certainly Hamlet did not intend 
the death of Polonius ; hence, unwittingly and by mere 
accident he injured Laertes, who declared that he was 
"satisfied in nature." Let the conduct and sentiments 
of Laertes in this interview and in his conversation with 
the usurper, together with his villainous design against 
the life of Hamlet, be examined and tried by any rules 
of honor or humanity, natural or artificial, and he must 
be considered as a treacherous, cowardly, diaboHcal 

wretch. 

— Joseph Ritson, "Remarks," 1783. 

The time is out of joint ; O cursed spite, 
That ever I was born to set it right ! 

In these words, I imagine, is the key to Hamlet's whole 
procedure, and to me it. is clear that Shakespeare sought 
to depict a great deed laid upon a soul unequal to the 
performance of it. In this view I find the piece composed 
throughout. Here is an oak-tree planted in a costly vase, 
which should have received into its bosom only lovely 
flowers ; the roots spread out, the vase is shivered to 
pieces. 

173 



Appendix. 

A beautiful, pure, and most moral nature, without the 
strength of nerve which makes the hero, sinks beneath a 
burden which it can neither bear nor throw off ; every duty 
's holy to him — this too hard. The impossible is required 
of him, — not the impossible in itself, but the impossible 
to him. How he winds, turns, agonizes, advances, and 
recoils, ever reminded, ever reminding himself, and at 
last almost loses his purpose from his thoughts without 
ever again recovering his peace of mind, ... 

— J. W. VON Goethe, "Wilhelm Meister," 1795. 

Hamlet is brave and careless of death ; but he vacillates 
from sensibility, and procrastinates from thought, and 
loses the power of action in the energy of resolve. Thus 
it is that this tragedy presents a direct contrast to that 
of Macbeth ; the one proceeds with the utmost slowness, 
the other with a crowded and breathless rapidity. 

The effect of this overbalance of the imaginative power 
is beautifully illustrated in the everlasting broodings and 
superfluous activities of Hamlet's mind, which, unseated 
from its healthy relation, is constantly occupied with the 
world within, and abstracted from the world without, — 
giving substance to shadows, and throwing a mist over 
all commonplace actualities. It is the nature of thought 
to be indefinite ; — definiteness belongs to external imagery 
alone. Hamlet feels this ; his senses are in a state of 
trance, and he looks upon external things as hieroglyphics. 
His soliloquy — : 

O that this too too solid flesh would melt, etc., 

springs from that ciuving_aiter_ the_indefinite — -for that 
which is not — which most easily besets men of genius; 

174 



Characters. 

and the self-delusion common to this temper of mind is 
finely exemplified in the character which Hamlet gives 
of himself — 

It cannot be 
But I am pigeon-liver'd, and lack gall 
To make oppression bitter. 

He mistakes the seeing his chains for the breaking of them, 
delays action till action is of no use, and dies the victim 
of mere circumstance and accident. 

— S. T. Coleridge, "Notes and Lectures on Shakespeare," 1808. 

Shakespeare wished to impress upon us the truth; 
that action is the chief end of existence, — that no facul- 
ties of intellect, however brilliant, can be considered 
valuable, or indeed otherwise than as misfortunes, if they 
withdraw us from, or render us repugnant to, action. 
In enforcing this moral truth, Shakespeare has shown the 
fulness and force of his powers; all that is amiable and 
excellent in nature is combined in Hamlet, with the 
exception of one quality. He is a man living in meditation, 
called upon to act by every motive human and divine, 
but the great object of his life is defeated by continually 
resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve. 

— S. T. Coleridge, "Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton," 1812. 

Consider "Hamlet" in whatsoever light you will, it stands 
quite alone, most peculiarly apart from any other play of 
Shakespeare's. A vast deal has been written upon the 
subject, and by a great number of commentators, by men 
born in different countries, educated after different fashions. 
We might hope to see a second Shakespeare, if the world 

175 



Appendix. 

had ever possessed a commentator worthy of "Hamlet." 
Such a man as Shakespeare imagined in him to whom 
his hero bequeathed the task to 

report me and my cause aright 
To the unsatisfied. 

" Hamlet," to my mind, is essentially a psychological exer- 
cise and study. The hero, from whose acts and feelings 
everything in the drama takes its color and pursues its 
course, is doubtless insane. But the species of mental 
malady under which he suffers, is of the subtlest character. 
— William Maginn, "Shakespeare Papers," 1836. 

Hamlet himself has caused more of perplexity and dis- 
cussion than any other character in the whole range of 
art. The charm of his mind and person amounts to an 
almost universal fascination. One man considers him 
great, but wicked; another, good, but weak; a third, 
that he lacks courage and dares not act ; a fourth that he 
has too much intellect for his will, and so reflects away the 
time of action; some conclude that his madness is half 
genuine; others, that it is wholly feigned. Doubtless 
there are facts in the delineation which, considered by 
themselves, would sustain any one of these views; but 
none of them seems reconcilable with all of the facts taken 
together. Yet, notwithstanding this diversity of opinion 
all agree in thinking of Hamlet as an actual person. While 
all are impressed with the truth of the character, no one 
is satisfied with another's explanation of it. The question 
is, Why such unanimity as to his being a man, and at 
the same time such diversity of opinion as to what sort 
of man he is ? 

— H. N. Hudson, "Introduction to Hamlet," 1870. 
176 



Characters. 

The fact is, that Shakespeare never intended to represent 
Hamlet as mad or half mad or verging on madness. He 
expressly made him a feigner of madness, and vrhen he 
wished to create real madness and contrast it with feigned 
madness, he created the real madness of Ophelia and did 
it with wonderful truth and skill. There is not a trace 
of madness in Hamlet. . . . Fancy a mad doctor asked 
by Claudius or Polonius about Hamlet, hearing him say : 
"I could be bounded in a nutshell and think myself king 
of infinite space, had I not bad dreams." What would 
he say, shaking his foolish head? "Sire, with the deepest 
regret, I am of opinion that Prince Hamlet is suffering 
from cerebral disease, likely, at any moment, to become 
dangerous." But if Horatio were present, he would say: 
''What an ass the man is! What does he know? The 
Prince has thought this and talked of the idea in it a 
hundred times at Wittenberg." . . . After all, the main 
question with regard to this matter is — not whether 
Hamlet was mad or half mad or not mad at all — but 
whether Shakespeare meant him to be mad — and to 
that there is but one answer possible. 

— Stopford Brooke, ''Ten More Plays of Shakespeare," 1913. 

So much has been written upon " Hamlet," that one can 
hardly descry the play through the rolhng cloud of wit- 
ness. The critical guns detonate with such uproar, and 
exploding, diffuse such quantities of gas, as to impose on 
us that, moral stupor which I understand to be one of the 
calculated effects of heavy artillery in warfare. The 
poor infantry-man discerns not in the din that half of 
these missiles are flying in one direction, half in another, 

177 



Appendix. 

still less how large a proportion of both hit no mark at 
all. He can scarcely command nerve for a steady look 
at the thing itself. This loud authority confuses us all. 
It starts us thinking of ''Hamlet," not as an acted play but 
as a mystery, a psychological study, an effort of genius so 
grandiose, vast, vague, amorphous, nebulous, that men of 
admitted genius — even such men as Coleridge and Goethe, 
— tracking it, have lost their way in the profound obscure. 
Now, with all the courage of humility, I say that this 
is, nine-tenths of it, rubbish. I insist that we take Shake- 
speare first, and before any of these imposing fellows. 
At all events, he wrote the play, and they did not. . . . 
It is never a test of the highest art that it is unintelligible. 
It is rather the last triumph of a masterpiece — the 
triumph definitely passing it for a classic — that all men 
in their degree can understand and enjoy it. . . . Do 
we, knowing Shakespeare, suppose that he wrote the long- 
est of his plays to hide what he meant ? 

It is Ophelia who first brings word of Hamlet's derange- 
ment ; and we note how her old dotard of a father jumps 
at each piece of evidence, accepting with fresh glee what- 
ever confirms his wrong conclusion, until he can hold his 
delighted folly no longer. 

Come, go with me : I will go seek the king. 
This is the very ecstasy of love ! 

We note, moreover, that in deahng with all such compla- 
cent fools — not only Polonius, but Rosencrantz and 
Guildenstern — Hamlet deliberately and with rehsh enacts 
the madman. We watch him tucking his arm under 
Polonius's and drawing him aside : 

178 



^ Characters. 

Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel? . . . 

But he never talks Hke that to the sane man, Horatio. 
Horatio knows; Gertrude, his mother, knows too. . . . 
No, Hamlet is sane. Considering the shock he has 
undergone, we may almost say there was never man saner. 

— Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, 

"Notes on Shakespeare's Workmanship," 191 7. 

Other Characters 

Of the character of Ophelia, and the situation which she 
holds in the action of the play, I need say little. Every- 
thing about her is young, beautiful, artless, innocent, and 
touching. She comes before us in striking contrast to 
the Queen, who, fallen as she is, feels the influence of her 
simple and happy purity. Amid the frivolity, flattery, 
fawning, and artifice of a corrupted court, she moves in 
all the unpolluted loveliness of nature. But we feel from 
the first that her lot is to be mournful. The world in 
which she lives is not worthy of her and soon, as we connect 
her destiny with Hamlet, we know that darkness is to 
overshadow her, and that sadness and sorrow will step 
in between her and the ghost-haunted avenger of his 
father's murder. Perhaps the description of her death 
by the Queen is poetical rather than dramatic ; but its 
exquisite beauty prevails, and OpheHa, dying and dead, 
is the same Ophelia that first won our love. She has 
passed away from the earth like a beautiful air — a 
delightful dream. There would have been no place for 
her in the agitation and tempest of the final catastrophe. 
— Thomas Campbell, "Letters on Shakespeare," 1818. 
179 



Appendix. 

Neglected had Ophelia been by one and all, — all but 
Horatio, that noble soul of unpretending worth, and he 
knew not what ailed her till she was past all cure. He 
it is who feelingly, and poetically, and truly describes th^ 
maniac ; he it is who brings her in ; he it is who follows 
her away, — dumb all the while ! And who with right 
soul but must have been speechless amidst these gentle 
ravings ? 

— Thomas Campbell, " Blackwood's Magazine," 1833. 

From the first we have a sense of a most pathetic or- 
phaned loneliness about Ophelia. Throughout, she has 
no one to turn to, no woman to give her advice. (For 
let us note that, unlike many another heroine of Shake- 
speare's, she is not even allowed a waiting-maid. Save 
the Queen, there is no other woman in the play-bill. And 
what kind of help or advice could such a woman as the 
Queen give?) On the other hand, of male admonition. 
— of advice which is precisely the kind of advice she does 
not want — the poor child gets enough and to spare. 
Her brother has no sooner gone than her father turns on 
her and reads her another lecture — reams of worldly 
counsel, all withered, conventional. Poor Ophelia ! 

If Laertes and Polonius seem (and are) tedious as well 
as conventional, may we not recognize that Shakespeare 
deliberately made them so ? In this Court of Denmark 
an abyss of horror has been half-opened to us. Earth 
has parted, and for a moment given up its dead; has 
shut again not yet surrendering the secret. . . . On the 
stage . . . these two courtiers, father and son, prate 
saws on the proper conduct of life, meaningless as they 

180 



Characters. 

are wise ; batter them on the brain of a helpless girl. . . . 
She, a helpless victim, is being prated to her doom by 
father and brother, the only two in the world she might 
naturally have counted on for help. 

— Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, 

"Notes on Shakespeare's Workmanship," 191 7. 

Horatio is one of the very noblest and most beautiful 
of Shakespeare's characters; and there is not a single 
loose stitch in his make-up ; he is at all times superbly 
self-contained ; he feels deeply, but never gushes nor runs 
over ; a most manly soul, full alike of strength, tenderness, 
and solidity. But he moves so quietly in the drama that 
his rare traits of character have hardly had justice done 
them. Should we undertake to go through the play with- 
out him, we might feel then how much of the best spirit 
and impression of the scenes is owing to his presence. 
He is the medium whereby many of the hero's finest and 
noblest qualities are conveyed to us, yet himself so clear 
and simple and transparent that he scarcely catches the 
attention. . . . The great charm of Horatio's unselfish- 
ness is that he seems not to be himself in the least aware 
of it ; "as one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing." His 
mild scepticism at first, "touching this dreaded sight 
twice seen of us," is exceedingly graceful and scholarly. 
And indeed all that comes from him marks the presence 
of a calm, clear head, keeping touch and time perfectly 
with a good heart. 

— ^ H. N. Hudson, "Introduction to Hamlet," 1870. 



181 



Appendix. 



FAMILIAR PASSAGES IN "HAMLET" 

When you first take a play of Shakespeare's in hand, 
you soon begin to have the feehng that you have read 
this before, though you know you have not. The fact is, 
Shakespeare expressed the general mind and common 
feeling of us all in phrases so packed with meaning, so 
full of insight into human nature, so happy in figure and 
choice of words, that we have adopted them and added 
them to our stock of everyday language. Only the Bible 
has contributed more of these stock phrases to modern 
Enghsh speech. The result is that, without knowing it, 
we are constantly quoting words and even whole lines 
from Shakespeare's plays, as, for instance, when we speak 
of ''the king's Enghsh," "sweets to the sweet," "much 
virtue in If," "at a pin's fee," "what's in a name?" 
"brevity is the soul of wit," "last, but not least," "every 
inch a king," "the tyrant custom," "single blessedness," 
"as easy as lying," "the short and the long of it," "a 
lion among ladies," "for ever and a day," "give the devil 
his due," "in my mind's eye," "the game is up," "forget 
and forgive," "cudgel thy brains," "what's done is done," 
"the pink of courtesy," "parting is such sweet sorrow," 
"I '11 not budge an inch," etc. 

With the exception of "The Merchant of Venice" 
and "Macbeth," probably none of the plays has con- 

182 



Familiar Passages. 

tributed more familiar phrases to our speech to-day than 
' ' Hamlet . ' ' Here are some of the most important . Others 
may be found in Bartlett's ''Familiar Quotations." 
It will interest you to try to place them by recalling 
when and where and by whom they wer2 spoken. How 
many of them had you heard of before you studied the 
play? 

1. For this relief much thanks. 

2. But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad. 
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill. 

3. A little more than kin, and less than kind. 

4. Customary suits of solemn black. 

5. O, that this too too soHd flesh would melt. 

6. How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable 
Seem to me all the uses of this world ! 

7. Hyperion to a satyr. 

8. Frailty, thy name is woman ! 

9. Thrift, thrift, Horatio ! the funeral baked meats 
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. 

10. In my mind's eye. 

11. He was a man, take him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again. 
In the dead vast and middle of the night. 
More in sorrow than in anger. 
Sweet, not lasting. 
The primrose path of dalliance. 
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. 
Rich not gaudy. 
Neither a borrower nor a lender be. 

183 



Appendix. 

19. To thine own self be true, 
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

20. To the manner born. 

21. More honoured in the breach than the observance. 

22. I could a tale unfold whose lightest word 
Would harrow up thy soul. 

23. The secrets of my prison house. 

24. Sent to my account 
With all my imperfections on my head. 

25. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. 

26. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 

27. The time is out of joint : O cursed spite 
That ever I was born to set it right. 

28. Brevity is the soul of wit. 

29. 'T is true 't is pity ; 
And pity 't is 't is true. 

30. Caviare to the general. 

31. Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. 

32. There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking 
makes it so. 

33. The play 's the thing. 

34. The devil hath power 
To assume a pleasing shape. 

35. To be, or not to be ; that is the question. 

36. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. 

37. The thousand natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to. 

38. 'T is a consummation 
Devoutly to be wished. 

184 



Familiar Passages. 

Ay, there 's the rub. 

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil. 

The whips and scorns of time. 

The insolence of office. 

The undiscovered country from whose bourn 

No traveller returns. 

44. Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all. 

45. Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. 

46. The glass of fashion and the mould of form, 
The observed of all observers. 

47. Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh. 

48. Let the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung. 

49. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action. 
Frighted with false fire ? 
They fool me to the top of my bent. 
I will speak daggers to her, but will use none. 
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven. 
Dead, for a ducat, dead ! 
Lay not that flattering unction to your soul. 

56. I must be cruel, only to be kind. 

57. 'T is the sport to have the enginer 
Hoist with his own petar. 

58. When sorrows come, they come not single spies, 
But in battalions. 

59. There 's such divinity doth hedge a king. 
That treason can but peep to what it would. 

60. There is pansies, that 's for thoughts. 

61. Sweets to the sweet : farewell ! 

62. The cat will mew and dog will have his day. 

63. There 's a divinity that shapes our ends, 
Rough-hew them how we will. 

18s 



Appendix. 

64. There 's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. 

65. If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, 
Absent thee from feUcity awhile, 

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain 
To tell my story. 

66. The rest is silence. 



186 



WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT SHAKESPEARE 

The facts that we know with absolute certainty about 
William Shakespeare can be given in a few meagre para- 
graphs. Some bare, prosaic records in Strat- 
ford and in the Stationers' Register in Lon- known 
don, a few signatures, a will, a deed or two, about 

an application for a coat-of-arms, an occasional Shake- 

. . speare. 

mention of his name in court proceedings, in 

lists of actors, and in the works of fellow authors, — this 
is about all we have as the basis for a life of one of the 
greatest men that the world has produced. Traditions 
and quaint fanciful stories exist, as we might expect, in 
infinite number and variety. Many of these date back to 
the poet's own time, and therefore may have in them at 
least an element of truth. By far the greater number, 
however, gained popularity nearly a century after his 
death, when the curiosity of an age intensely interested in 
the drama began to look back and talk about the most 
marvellous of all the makers of plays. Few of these later 
traditions can be relied upon. Yet from the few scrappy 
facts that we have, supplemented by the earUer legends, 
and above all by a study of the plays themselves, it is 
possible to make a story of the poet's life, which, though 
by no means complete, is full enough to give us a fairly 
clear understanding of his growth in fame and business 
prosperity, and his development as a dramatist. 

It is not strange that we know so Uttle about Shake- 
speare. His age was not one of biographical writing. 
To-day a man of not one tenth part of his genius is be- 
sought by reporters for interviews concerning his life ; 

187 



Appendix. 

he is persuaded by admiring friends to write his mem- 
oirs ; as his end approaches, every important newspaper 

„„ in the land has an article of several columns 

Why we 

know so ready to print the instant that word of his death 

little about comes over the wire. Three hundred and fifty 
Shake- years ago nothing of this kind was possible. 

Newspapers and magazines, genealogies and 
contemporary history did not exist. Encyclopaedias, dic- 
tionaries of names, directories, "blue-books," and volumes 
of " Who's Who " had not been dreamed of. Personal cor- 
respondence was meagre, and what few letters were written 
seldom were preserved. Above all, a taste for reading the 
lives of men had not been formed. In fact, it was not until 
fifty years after Shakespeare's time that the art of biograph- 
ical writing in England was really born. When we remem- 
ber, in addition to these facts, that actors and playwrights 
then held a distinctly inferior position in society, and by 
the growing body of Puritans were looked upon with con- 
tempt and extreme disfavor, it is not surprising that no 
special heed was paid to the life of Shakespeare. On the 
contrary, it is astonishing that we know as much as we do 
about him, — fully as much as we know about most of the 
writers of his time, and even of many who lived much 
later. 

In the records of the i6th century there are numer- 
ous references to Shakespeares living in the midland 
_,, , counties of England, especially in Warwick- 

father, John shire. For the most part, they seem to have 
Shake- been substantial yeomen and plain farmers of 

speare. sound practical sense rather than men of learn- 

ing or culture. Some of them owned land and prospered. 
Such a one was John Shakespeare, who moved to Strat- 

i88 



Shakespeare's Life. 

ford-on- Avon about 1550 and became a dealer in malt and 
corn, meat, wool, and leather. He is referred to some- 
times as a glover and a butcher. Probably he was both, 
and dealt besides in all the staples that farmers about the 
village produced and brought to market to sell. The fact 
that he could not write, which was nothing unusual among 
men of his station in the i6th century, did not prevent his 
prospering in business. For more than twenty years after 
the earliest mention of his name in the Stratford records, 
he is spoken of frequently and always in a way to show us 
that his financial standing in the community was steadily 
increasing. He seems also to have been a man of affairs. 
From one office to another he rose until in 1568 he 
held the position of High Bailiff, or Mayor of Stratford. 
Eleven years earlier his fortunes had been increased by 
his marriage to Mary Arden, the daughter of a prosperous 
farmer of the neighboring village of Wilmcote, who be- 
queathed to his daughter a house, with fifty acres of land, 
and a considerable sum of money. It is not fair, there- 
fore, to speak of the father of William Shakespeare, as 
some have done, as " an uneducated peasant," or as "a 
provincial shopkeeper." At the time of the birth of his 
illustrious son he was one of the most prominent men in 
Stratford, decidedly well-to-do, respected and trusted by all. 
The year before John Shakespeare brought his bride 
from Wilmcote to Stratford-on-Avon, he had purchased 

a house in Henley Street, and there he and „^ ^ 

^ ' The house 

his wife were living when their children were j^ which 

born. It was a cottage two stories high, with Shake- 
dormer windows, and of timber and plaster spearewas 

born, 
construction. Though frequently repaired and 

built over during the three hundred and fifty years that 

189 



Appendix. 

have passed, it still remains in general appearance much 
the same as it looked in 1556. Simple, crude, plain, — it 
is nevertheless the most famous house in England, if not 
in the world. Noted men and women from all parts of 
the earth have visited Stratford to see it. Essays, stories, 
and poems have been written about it. Preserved in the 
care of the Memorial Society, it is the shrine of the liter- 
ary pilgrim and the Mecca of tourists who flock during 
the summer to the quaint old village on the Avon. For 
here, in a small bare room on the second floor, William 
Shakespeare was born. 

How little we know of Shakespeare, compared with 
even a minor poet of the 19th century, is shown by the 

T\ 4. * 4.1, f ^ct that we are not certain of the exact date 
Date of tne 

poet's birth, on which the greatest of all poets was born. 
April 23, . The records of Holy Trinity Church in Strat- 
ford show that the child was baptized on April 
26, 1564, and since it was the custom at that time for the 
baptism of children to take place on the third day after 
birth, it has been generally agreed that William was born 
on April 23, and that date is celebrated as his birthday. 
Tradition tells us, and probably truthfully, that it was also 
on this date, April 23, in 1616, that he died. 

Of the poet's boyhood we know next to nothing. It is 

a mistake, however, to assume that he lacked educational 

opportunities. There was in Stratford an ex- 

^ ®" cellent free Grammar School such as a bailiff's 

speare's 
boyhood son would attend, and to which it is reasonable 

and school- to suppose that the boy was sent. Here he 

i^lV^^''^^" st"<i^^^ chiefly Latin, for education then in 

England consisted almost entirely of the 

classics, especially Vergil, Ovid, Horace, and the comedies 

190 




Shakespeare's House at Stratford-on-Avon 




The Room where Shakespeare was Born^ 



Shakespeare's Life. 

of Plautus and Terence. The comment of Ben Jonson, 
his fellow dramatist of later years, that Shakespeare had 
" small Latin and less Greek," should not be taken too 
literally. Compared with the profound scholarship of a 
college-trained man like Jonson, the Stratford boy had, to 
be sure, but little knowledge of the classics. Yet there is 
every evidence to show that he understood both Latin 
and French pretty well, and that he knew the Bible thor- 
oughly. It is clear, too, that by nature he was a boy of 
remarkable powers of observation and keenly retentive 
memory, who used every opportunity about him for ac- 
quiring information and ideas. Whether he went to 
school or not would have made but little difference to one 
whose mind possessed rare powers of developing and 
training itself. Like Burns and Lincoln, he was educated 
more by people and the world of Nature about him than 
by books and formal teaching. 

Ordinarily a boy of the i6th century would remain at 
the Grammar School from seven to fourteen, but there is 

a well-founded tradition that Shakespeare left _. 

^ Five years 

m 1577, when he was thirteen years old, and in Stratford 

never attended school again. About this time after leav- 

the records show that his father's financial dif- 1^,^^°?°?' 

1577-1582. 
ficulties began. Another pair of hands was 

needed at home to help in the support of the family, and 
William was the oldest son. Just how he was occupied, 
however, between his fourteenth and eighteenth years we 
cannot say. Probably he assisted his father in his declin- 
ing business. One of the bits of Stratford gossip, collected 
by the antiquarian Aubrey, states that he was " in his 
younger years a school-master in the country," and another 
tells us that " when he was a boy he exercised his father's 

191 



Appendix. 

trade. When he killed a calf, he would doe it in a high style 
and make a speech." It may be, as another reference 
seems to imply, that he was employed in the office of a 
lawyer. But we must not put too much confidence in these 
traditions, which, like all stories passed on by word of 
mouth, grew and changed as the years went by. As much 
as we should like to know of, his employment, his reading, 
and all the circumstances that were developing his mind 
and character during these five important years, we must 
•remember that " there is no reason why anything should 
have been recorded ; he was an obscure boy living in an 
inland village, before the age of newspapers, and out of 
relation with people of fashion and culture. During this 
period as little is known of him as is known of Cromwell 
during the same period ; as little, but no less. This fact 
gives no occasion either for surprise or scepticism as to 
his marvellous genius ; it was an entirely normal fact con- 
cerning boys growing up in unliterary times and in rural 
communities."^ 

The first really authentic record we have of Shakespeare 
after his school days is that of the baptism of his daughter 
„. Susanna, on May 26, 1583. The previous year, 

riageto when only eighteen, he had married Anne 
Anne Hath- Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer in the 
away, 582. neighboring village of Shottery. This pictur- 
esque hamlet was reached then from Stratford, as it is to- 
day, by a delightful foot-path through the wide and fertile 
fields of Warwickshire. Perhaps no other spot connected 
with the poet's life, except the house in which he was born, 
is dearer to people's hearts than the quaint old thatched- 

1 H. W. Mabie : " William Shakespeare, Poet, Dramatist, and Man," 
page SI. 

192 




Anne Hathaway' s Cottage at Shottery 




Interior of Anne Hathaway's Cottage 



Shakespeare's Life. 

roof building known as " Anne Hathaway's cottage " ; for 
it still stands, at least in part, as it was when the " youth- 
ful lover went courting through the meadows, past the 
'bank where the wild thyme blows,' to Shottery." Two 
years after the birth of Susanna, in February, 1585, twins 
were born, and soon after the youthful husband and father 
left his native town to seek his fortunes in London. 

It would be most interesting to know when and how and 
just why Shakespeare left Stratford, but no documents 
have been found that throw any certain hght 
upon this portion of his life. It has generally , ®^^°^^ ®^ 
been assumed that he found his way to the Stratford: 
metropolis soon after the birth of his twins. ^^^ poach- 
Probably he walked by the highway through J^&*^^^- 
Oxford and Wycombe, or if he rode it was on 
horseback, purchasing a saddle-horse at the beginning of 
his journey, as was the custom then, and selling it upon his 
arrival in the city. There is an old tradition that, with 
other young men of the village, he had been involved in a 
poaching escapade upon the estate of Sir Thomas Lucy. 
In the first regular biography of Shakespeare written by 
Nicholas Rowe in 1709, nearly a hundred years after the 
poet's death, the story of this adventure is given as an 
actual fact. " He had, by a misfortune common enough 
among young fellows, fallen into ill company, and among 
them some that made a frequent practice of deer-stealing, 
engaged him with them more than once in robbing a park 
that belonged to Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, near 
Stratford. For this he was prosecuted by that gentleman, 
as he thought, somewhat too severely; and, in order to 
revenge that ill-usage, he made a ballad upon him, and 
though this, probably the first essay of his poetry, be lost, 

193 



Appendix. 

yet it is said to have been so very bitter that it redoubled 
the prosecution against him to that degree that he was 
obhged to leave his business and family in Warwickshire 
and shelter himself in London." No trace of this ballad 
has been found ; indeed, the whole story rests on gossip, 
and must not be taken too literally. It is supported, in a 
way, by the fact that Justice Shallow in " The Merry Wives 
of Windsor " is unquestionably a humorous sketch, or cari- 
cature, of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Hall, thus sug- 
gesting that whether he had been prosecuted and harried 
out of town by his wealthy neighbor or not, the youthful 
poet had some personal reasons for ridiculing the head of 
the Lucy family. 

Still another account explains Shakespeare's departure 
from Stratford by stating that he joined a company of 
strolling players. Though this may possibly 
too narrow have been the means of his finding congenial 
a field for travelling companions, it seems more natural 
Shake- ^^ suppose that he left his native village much 

as a boy to-day leaves a remote country town 
and goes to the city to seek his fortune. His father's 
affairs, we know, had been steadily decHning; his own 
family was growing ; business in many trades through the 
midland counties was poor ; any ambitious and high- 
spirited youth would have become restless and discon- 
tented. What was more natural, under these circumstances, 
than the breaking of home-ties and moving to London for 
its larger opportunities ? 

The traditions that Shakespeare, upon his arrival in 
the capital about 1587, was employed in a printer's shop 
and a lawyer's office, are extremely doubtful. It seems 
much more likely that he became connected with the 

194 



Shakespeare's Life. 

theatre at once, either as a call-boy in the building itself, 

or as one of those who held the horses on which gallants 

of the city rode to the play-house. That he 

should have turned to the theatre rather than ^ ®", 

speare s 

to business to get a foothold in London is not first connec- 

strange. Companies of players had frequently tio^ ^itli 

visited Stratford in his boyhood. Indeed, the *Je I;o^<io^ 

. •' theatres, 

people of his native town seem to have been 

exceptionally fond of the drama, a fact, as Mr. Mabie 
has pointed out, " of very obvious bearing on the educa- 
tion of Shakespeare's imagination and the bent of his 
mind toward a vocation." As a lad of eleven he probably 
saw the pageant at Kenilworth Castle, in honor of Queen 
Elizabeth's visit to the Earl of Leicester. The processions 
and gorgeous costumes of this occasion, the tableaux and 
scenes set forth by the actors from the city must have 
made a profound impression on the mind of the imagina- 
tive boy. Moreover, it was a time of widespread interest 
in everything dramatic. When Shakespeare was born in 
1564, there was not a single building in London devoted to 
the presentation of plays. At the time of his death, fifty- 
two years later, there were at least nine. The develop- 
ment of the drama from simple morality plays and historical 
pageants given in tavern-yards and on village greens, to 
" Julius Caesar " and " Hamlet," covered the period of the 
poet's youth; so that when he arrived in London, more than 
ever before or since in English history, the theatre was of 
compelling interest and attraction. 

The six years after his arrival in London are a blank. 
We must imagine him rapidly rising through various posi- 
tions at the Rose or the Curtain, for a young man of his 
genius and enterprise would not long remain obscure. 

19s 



Appendix. 

It is certain that he became an actor before he wrote for 
the stage. By 1592, however, he had evidently earned suffi- 
His earliest cient fame as a playwright to stir the jealousy 
work as of Robert Greene, a rival author, who in that 
actor and year refers bitterly to him as "in his owne con- 
ceit the only Shakes-scene in a countrie," and 
then parodies a line from an early play that is attributed 
to Shakespeare. While as an actor he was learning stage- 
craft in the best possible school, he was undoubtedly 
trying his prentice hand by mending old plays and con- 
tributing bits to the work of his older companions. 
These earliest dramatic writings may have been numer- 
ous, but they are either entirely lost or hidden in plays 
credited to other men. His progress from a clerk in a 
country store to a writer of drama is thus admirably de- 
scribed by Sidney Lee : " A young man of two-and- 
twenty, burdened with a wife and children, he had left his 
home in the little country town of Stratford-on-Avon in 
1586 to seek his fortune in London. Without friends, 
without money, he had, like any other stage-struck youth, 
set his heart on becoming an actor in the metropolis. 
Fortune favoured him. He sought and won the humble 
office of call-boy in a London playhouse ; but no sooner 
had his foot touched the lowest rung of the theatrical 
ladder than his genius taught him that the topmost rung 
was within his reach. He tried his hand on the revision 
of an old play, and the manager was not slow to recognize 
an unmatched gift for dramatic writing.^ 

It was not until 1593, when Shakespeare was twenty- 
nine, that he appeared openly in the field of authorship. 
On April 18 of that year his long poem "Venus and 

1 Sidney Lee : " Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Playgoer," page 32. 
196 



Shakespeare's Life. 

Adonis " wsls entered at Stationers' Hall for publication. 

It was printed by Richard Field, a Stratford man who 

had come to London somewhat earlier than ^ ^ 

The first 
the poet, and though pubhshed without a name books 

on the title-page, the dedication to the Earl published 

of Southampton was signed " William Shake- ^^^^^ ^^^ 

name, 
speare." The same is true of "Lucrece," 

which was registered in May of 1594. These two long 
poems must have had wide popularity, for they are often 
praised by critics of the day, and in the poet's own life- 
time several editions of both were issued. They were 
the means by which Shakespeare became known as an 
author, for though some of his dramatic work may have 
been printed before this, plays were not regarded then as 
literature to be read, whereas these poems were issued 
under the poet's supervision for the reading public, and 
were thus '' the first fruits of his conscious artistic life." 

Both as actor and playwright, Shakespeare's fame rap- 
idly increased after 1594; in fact, the eight years that 
followed saw him rise to the height of his 

powers. His name stands first on the list of ^^ogress in 

fame and 
" prmcipal Comedians " who acted Jonson's fortune. 

" Every Man in his Humour " in 1598. Francis 
Meres in his " Palladis Tamia," published in the same 
year, speaks of the " mellifluous and honey-tongued 
Shakespeare," and then proceeds to name twelve of his 
plays and compare him favorably with the Roman drama- 
tists Seneca and Plautus. Even if this list is incomplete 
we see that already before 1598 he had written three of 
his most charming comedies, one of them " The Merchant 
of Venice," and at least one of the tragedies that ranks 
among his very greatest. From then until his retirement 

197 



Appendix. 

to Stratford fourteen years later, there are frequent refer- 
ences to his plays which appeared with astonishing rapid- 
ity. The dates when they were written and first acted are 
often uncertain, but before 1612 he had produced more 
than twenty dramas which together constitute the most 
marvelous body of literary work that ever came from a 
human mind. 

As an^ actor he did not -continue to excel. If we may 
trust the sentiments of the sonnets, it is clear that he 
thoroughly disliked this part of his profession. Probably 
after 1604 he ceased to appear on the stage altogether. 
Financially it is certain that he was prosperous. We 
know, for one thing, that he owned shares in several 
London theatres, notably the Globe, where many of his 
own plays were first presented to enthusiastic London 
audiences. Then his successful application to the Col- 
lege of Heralds in 1599, on behalf of his father, for a 
grant of coat-of-arms ; his purchase of several pieces of 
property in his native town ; the records of lawsuits to 
recover debts which were owed him ; numerous references 
which show us that he was looked upon as a man of means 
and standing ; his friendship with Ben Jonson and other 
learned men of his day, — these facts, with the traditions 
of later generations, all convince us that the author of 
" Hamlet " and " Macbeth " was a successful man of 
affairs, as well as one of the most prominent and best- 
loved dramatists of his time. 

Although Shakespeare made London his home after 
1584 or 1585, it is probable that he often visited Stratford 
where his family continuedto reside. An old legend states 
that he frequently put up at the Crown Inn in Oxford on 
his way to and fro. Documents exist, moreover, which 

198 



^•i^li 







Holy Trinity Parish Church, Stratford-on-Avon 



Good FREND for ksvs xake for be are. 

TO DtCC m E BVST. LNCIMMD HEAREV 
BlEFE be I MAN- :^: SPARES' TiE^ stones 
AND CVBST BE HE ^ MOVES MY BONES* 



Inscription on Shakespeare's Tomb 



^ -^^ — ' 1 


IVDICIO 


PyLI^/M, GE 


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lY SO FAST/ 


READ !F ' 


HO/ CANST 


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ENVIOVSJ 


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H HATi PLA.ST, 


WlTl !N 


Tiis HO^v^ 


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AK.SI>EAHE 


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H WHOME / 


QMCKN/ 


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MAr€J)OT 


DECKtl()HRH , 1 


hAKMORI 


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H^VRITT, 


Lm/¥s 


„IVINGAKi; 


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p/ 


GE /ro SP 


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HIS WITT. 

1 A.S-U [i(> i 1 6 ^ 
FATI-S J5 i>iK ZiAH- 



Inscription on Shakespeare's Monument, Trinity Church, 
Stratford-on-Avon 



Shakespeare's Life. 

show that he was constantly investing money in real estate 

in his native village, to which he seems to have 

looked forward as a pleasant retreat after the I^eti^e^ent 

strenuous days of actor, theatre-manager, and ^^j^ ig^g 

playwright were over. Probably the breaking 

off of London ties was gradual ; but it is doubtful whether 

he was much in the city after 1612, the year in which 

" Henry VIII," the last of his plays, was written. He 

now appears in the records as " William Shakespeare, 

Gent, of Stratford-on-Avon " ; and there he Hved with his 

well-won honors, respected and loved, for four years. 

In the early spring of 161 6, Shakespeare's youngest 
daughter, Judith, was married. A month later he made 
his will, and on April 25 the register of Christ j. ., . 
Church in Stratford shows that he was buried. Stratford, 
According to the lettering on the monument April 23, 
he died on April 23, and that date, the date of ^°^"- 
his birth fifty-two years before, has been generally ac- 
cepted as the day of his death. He was buried in the 
chancel of the fine old church, not far from the spot 
where he had been christened, and over the place where 
he lies may still be seen the quaint lines which tradition 
tells us he himself wrote to be inscribed above him : — 

Good Frend for Iesus Sake Forbeare, 
To DiGG THE Dust Encloased Heare : - 
Blest be Ye Man Y* Spares thes Stones, 
And Curst be he Yt Moves My Bones. 

Whether the poet wrote these threatening words or not, 
no sexton has disturbed his remains, and the grave of 
William Shakespeare in the beautiful church by the river 
he loved has remained unopened. 

199 



» SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS AND POEMS 

One of the problems of Shakespearean scholars for 
more than a century has been to determine the exact 

years in which the various plays were written. 
of deter- For just as we have no details of the poet's life, 
mining the so are the records of his work either extremely 
dates of the n^g^gre or entirely lacking. Not a single 

manuscript of anything that Shakespeare wrote 
has been preserved. The lire which burned the Globe 
theatre to the ground in 1613 may have destroyed the 
original pages of all the dramas : and yet, interesting 
and precious as they would be to us to-day, it is doubt- 
ful whether we can attribute to their loss our lack of 
knowledge as to just when each was written. We must 
remember that in Elizabethan times plays were not con- 
sidered literature to be read. After they had served their 
purpose on the stage and passed out of popular favor, 
they were set aside and wholly neglected. As long as 
there was the slightest chance of their being in demand at 
the theatre, the author and companies of actors did their 
best to keep them out of print altogether, apparently in 
the belief that attendance at the playhouse would suffer if 
the drama in book form was in the hands of the people. 
Moreover, among the most cultivated men of the day, and 
especially among the growing body of Puritans, there was 
a strong prejudice against the whole theatrical business. 
By them, actors were held in low esteem, and plays were 
looked upon as things of light, or even questionable, 
character. The modern conception that regards the 
drama as a high and artistic form of literature had not 
been born. 

200 



Plays and Poems. 

Under these circumstances it is not surprising that dur- 
ing his own lifetime only sixteen of Shakespeare's thirty- 
seven plays appeared in print. These editions, which 
are known to-day as the Quartos, were small, 
cheaply-made, paper-bound pamphlets usually The Quarto 
sold for a sixpence each. It is generally be- ^j^^ piays 
lieved that they were issued without the poet's 
consent, and probably even against his wishes. Several 
of them were undoubtedly printed from shorthand notes 
taken slyly at a performance in the theatre. Others may 
have been set up from the soiled and tattered copies of 
a needy actor who had been secretly bribed to part with 
them. The confusion and strange blunders in the text 
show us that these Quartos were the careless and hasty 
work of piratical printers ; indeed, it is almost certain that 
Shakespeare himself did not revise or in any way prepare 
a single one of them for the press. 

Inexact and inadequate as are the pirated Quarto 
editions, they would probably be the only plays of Shake- 
speare known to us to-day had it not been for ,^^ First 
a remarkable book that appeared seven years Folio 
after his death. In 1623 two of the poet's edition of 
friends put forth in a single volume his com- ® ^ ^^^' 
plete dramatic works. These men, John Heminge and 
Henry Condell, — names which are forever linked with 
Shakespeare's, — were actors in the same company with 
him, and, with Burbage, were joint owners of the Globe 
Theatre. The great dramatist, as a token of lifelong 
friendship, in his will bequeathed to them and to Burbage 
the sum of twenty-six shillings and eight pence to buy 
rings ; and they in turn collected and edited his plays 
"to keepe the memory of so worthy a friend and fellow 

201 



Appendix. 

alive." It is a large volume of 901 pages in two columns 
of fine print, and on the title-page, besides a crude en- 
graving of the poet, are these words : 

Mr. WilHam 
SHAKESPEARES 

COMEDIES, 

HISTORIES, & 

TRAGEDIES 

Published according to the True Original Copies. 

London 
Printed by Isaac laggard, and Ed. Blount. 1623. 

This is perhaps the most important volume in the whole 
range of English literature, for in it appeared for the first 
time in print twenty of Shakespeare's plays, among them 
'^The Tempest," "Twelfth Night," '^Julius Caesar," 
" Macbeth," " Cymbeline," and others of the dramatist's 
masterpieces. Heminge and Condell had access to stage 
copies of these plays which in another generation might 
have been lost or destroyed by fire ; so that their work, 
coming when it did, saved for us a large portion of the 
finest poetry and deepest wisdom of Shakespeare's mind. 
It is no wonder that the 156 extant copies of this notable 
book are preserved as priceless treasures ; for no other 
single volume ever did a greater service to literat^re than 
this Folio of 1623. 

Although Heminge and Condell must have known in 
many cases the exact years in which Shakespeare was at 
work upon his various plays, they did not consider such 

202 



Plays and Poems. 

information of sufficient interest to include it in their 
edition. Well might we spare some of the tiresome 
eulogies, which they printed in their preface, for a page 
or two of facts that they so easily might have included. 
As it stands, however, the First FoHo helps but little in 
arranging the chronology of the comedies and tragedies. 
And yet, in spite of all difficulties, by painstaking research 
scholars have come to a pretty general agreement upon 
the dates of composition of most of the plays. The evi- 
dence which they have used may be divided into two 
kinds, external and internal, — that is, evi- 
dence found outside of the plays, and evidence composi- 
found within the works themselves. External tion: 
evidence consists of such information as has external 
been obtained from records of performances 
in diaries and letters ; quotations and allusions in other 
books ; entries in the register of the Stationers' Company, 
which for nearly three hundred years regulated the publi- 
cation of all books in England ; records of the Master of 
Revels at Court, and of course the dates on the title-pages 
of the Quartos themselves. A good illustration of this 
sort of evidence is the journal of a certain Dr. Simon 
Forman, in which he mentions the fact that in 1610 and 
161 1 he witnessed performances of "Macbeth," " Cym- 
beline," and '' The Winter's Tale" at the Globe. An- 
other is the celebrated passage in the " Palladis Tamia," 
or "Wit's Treasury," of Francis Meres, which was pub- 
hshed in 1598: "As Plautus and Seneca are accounted 
the best for Comedy and Tragedy among the Latines, so 
Shakespeare among y^ English is the most excellent in 
both kinds for the stage ; for Comedy, witness his Getlenie 
of Verona^ his Errors^ his Love labors lost, his Love 

203 



Appendix. 

labours wonne, his Midsummers night dreame, & his Mer- 
chant of Venice: for Tragedy, his Richard the 2, Richard 
the 3^ Henry the 4^ King John^ Titus Andronicus, and his 
Romeo and Juliet.^'' Such references as these give a defi- 
nite year, later than which the plays referred to could not 
have been written. With a starting point thus settled, it 
is often possible to work backward and fix definitely the 
date of composition. 

Internal evidence, though seldom as exact as external, 
and therefore more difficult to interpret, is much more 

abundant. It may be nothing more than a 
composi- reference in the mouth of an actor to events 
tion: or books the dates of which are known, sucK 

internal ^g ^j^^ ^^^.^3 -^^ ^^^ Prologue to '' Henry V " 
evidence. 

that refer to the expedition of the Earl of 

Essex to Ireland in 1599. More often it deals with con- 
siderations of the metre, language, and form of the work 
itself. By studying such matters as classical allusions, 
the use of Latin words, kinds of figures of speech, puns, 
variations of verse and prose, and many other changing 
peculiarities of the poet's method, scholars have been able 
to trace the development of Shakespeare as a writer, and 
thus assign many of his plays to their probable year on no 
other evidence than their style. For instance, the date of 
''Julius Caesar" is generally agreed to be not earlier than 
1601 from the poet's use of the word "eternal" in the 
phrase " the eternal devil." As late as 1600 Shakespeare 
was using " infernal " in such expressions, but after that 
year he began to use "eternal," owing probably to the 
increasing objection among Puritans of London to the 
use of profanity on the stage. Even such a simple matter 
as the number of rhyming lines in a play may help to 

204 



Plays and Poems. 

place it approximately. In " Love's Labour's Lost," the 
earliest of the comedies, there are 1028 rhymes ; whereas 
in " The Winter's Tale " and " The Tempest," written 
twenty years later, there are none and two respectively. 
It is therefore safe to assume that as Shakespeare's style 
developed he used rhyme less and less, so that tragedies 
with but few rhyming lines, such as " Antony and Cleo- 
patra " and " Coriolanus," may be assigned, if on no other 
ground, to the later years of his life. Such matters of 
structure and style are by no means always certain. They 
are delicate to handle and require sound judgment and 
long experience. Yet it is by this sort of internal evi- 
dence, rather than by external facts, that the chronology 
of the plays has been determined. 

The following table gives the result of research and 
comparison, of proof and conjecture, on the part of Shake- 
spearean scholars. There still remain, of 
course, many differences of opinion ; some of ^^o^^-^l® 
the dates are less certain than othe^ ; a few ^LTs"'*"" 
are almost entirely the result of guesswork. 
Yet when we consider the meagre data upon which stu- 
dents have built their conclusions, their lack of agreement 
seems remarkably slight and insignificant. 

Of the thirty-seven plays in the following table, the 
sixteen which appeared in Quarto editions during the 
poet's life were "Titus Andronicus," 1594; p, 
"Richard II," "Richard III," and "Romeo printed 
and Juliet," 1597 ; " i Henry IV" and " Love's before 
Labour's Lost," 1598; "The Merchant of ^®^^- 
Venice," " Henry V," " Much Ado About Nothing," 
" 2 Henry IV," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream," 
1600 ; " The Merry Wives of Windsor," 1602 ; " Hamlet," 

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L07 



Appendix. 

1603 ; " King Lear," 1608 ; " Troilus and Cressida," and 
" Pericles," 1609. In addition to these, a Quarto of 
"Othello "was printed in 1622. The other twenty plays 
were not published, so far as we know, until 1623, when 
Heminge and Condell included them in the First Folio. 

The periods shown in the table are, of course, wholly 
artificial. Shakespeare himself had no such division of 
p . „ his works in mind, and it is dangerous for us 
Shake- to-day to press very far the suggestion of 

speare's de- clearly defined compartments for the plays, 
velopment. ^j^^ development of the dramatist, like that 
of any artist, was gradual. Changes in style, in method, 
in views of life took place not in a single year, but were 
the result of slowly expanding power and growth of 
character. In that growth there were no sudden breaks 
or unaccountable transformations. The mind that created 
"Hamlet" in 1602 was the same mind that created 
" Twelfth Night " in 1600, no matter how black the line 
that separates them into two different periods. Yet a 
glance at the divisions in the table reveals two or three 
interesting facts. 

When Shakespeare has gained a foothold in the London 
theatres he first turns his hand to old plays, touching them 
™ up, remodelling, and improving. This is his 

of experi- natural work as an apprentice playwright. As 
nient,1590- he gains confidence and strikes out for him- 
self, he experiments with all the forms of play- 
writing that then are known. Thus in " Love's Labour's 
Lost " we find one of the very few works the plot of which 
is his own invention ; in " The Comedy of Errors " and 
'' The Two Gentlemen of Verona " he imitates the Latin 
comedies of Plautus ; in '^ Richard III " and " King John " 

208 



Plays and Poems. 

he attempts historical tragedy, and in " Romeo and Juliet " 
he gives us tragedy, full of romance and passion, drawn 
from Italy whence so many of his stories of later years 
are to come. The four years from 1590 to 1593 are evi- 
dently years of feeling about, testing himself, and experi- 
menting. Naturally he writes with great rapidity : he is 
full of enthusiasm and the impetuous rush of youth. All 
that he does shows signs of a beginner and an unsettled 
purpose. We therefore do not expect to find highly fin- 
ished work. As a matter of fact, with the exception of 
"Romeo and Juliet" and "Richard III," none of the 
plays of this early period are acted on the stage to-day or 
often read. 

It is now that Shakespeare writes his two long story 
poems, — "Venus and Adonis " in 1593 and " Lucrece " 
in 1594. In them he retells classical legends 
taken chiefly from the Roman poet Ovid. 
Their elaborate and florid language reminds us of similar 
narrative poems of the period. In their spirit and style 
they resemble the early plays, but in one important respect 
they differ : they are published with their author's name on 
the title-page. Unlike the Quartos of the dramas, Shake- 
speare prepares these poems for the press. Their popu- 
larity surpasses even that of the comedies. Seven editions 
of "Venus and Adonis" are issued between 1593 and 
1602, and five of "Lucrece" between 1594 and 1616. 
Among the reading public of his day he becomes more 
widely known by them than by his work for the stage. 
He is now, in the eyes of the learned world, an author 
and creator of real literature. 

By 1594 the years of apprenticeship are over; Shake- 
speare has found where his powers He. He is still young 

209 



Appendix. 

and ardent ; the sadder and more serious things of 
hfe have not yet come to him ; he sympathizes with the 
The great demands of the London populace to be amused, 
comedies, The results are the last of the histories and 
1594-1600. seven years of comedies, — the fullest, and 
we may well believe, the happiest time of his life as a 
dramatist. His power of expression, his skill in con- 
structing a play, — above all, his keen insight into human 
nature, — develop with astonishing rapidity, until he is 
the favorite playwright of his day. In wit and enthusi- 
asm, in pure poetry and " gusto," in creation of interesting 
and delightful character, the plays from " A Midsummer 
Night's Dream " to " Twelfth Night " stand unmatched. 
Not one of them has faded after three hundred years : 
they still are acted and read with profit and pleasure. 
Together they form "the rich period of unsurpassable 
comedy." 

But youth and rollicking fun, high spirits and unbroken 
happiness, do not last. With the end of the century comes 
The great ^ turning-point in Shakespeare's life. Per- 
tragedies, haps it is personal grief and suffering ; possi- 
1601-1609. ]3iy i^ ig pQQj. health and for the first time the 
thought that his own death may not be far away ; pos- 
sibly it is disappointment in his friends or his ambitions ; 
or it may be simply a deeper wisdom coming with maturer 
years that now begins to make him think more and more 
of the greater and more serious things of life. The pas- 
sions, the temptations, the moral struggles of mankind 
now absorb his interest. Naturally, comedy and history 
are inadequate for the expression of these deeper thoughts 
and emotions. With " Julius Caesar " begin the great 
tragedies, that " series of spectacles of the pity and terror 

2IO 



Plays and Poems. 

of human suffering and human sin without parallel in the 
modern world." ^ Even the three comedies of these years 
are comedies only in name. Throughout them there is 
the atmosphere of suffering and sin. Their theme and 
spirit are more in keeping with " Hamlet " and " King 
Lear "than with the merrymaking and joyous fun of "As 
You Like It " and " A Midsummer Night's Dream." Thus 
every play of this period has a tragic motive, for during 
its nine years the mind and heart of the poet are con- 
cerned with the saddest and deepest things of human 
life. 

In 1609, toward the close of this period of tragedy, 
Shakespeare prints his volume of sonnets, one hundred 

and fifty-four in number. Some of them must 

. . . The sonnets, 

have been written much earlier. Their style 

and youthful spirit show that ; but besides, as early as 
1598, Francis Meres spoke of Shakespeare's " sugred Son- 
nets among his private friends." Yet many of them show 
such power, such masterful handling of profound thought, 
such noble poetic form, that they seem to come from the 
years that produced " Hamlet " and " Othello." Probably 
the poet has been writing them off and on ever since he 
came to London, and now in 1609 he puts them at last 
into book form. It is well that he does so; for to-day 
every one who enjoys poetry reads them with delight. 
Unlike " Venus and Adonis " and " Lucrece " they do not 
fade ; they are among the most perfect sonnets in our lan- 
guage, and they contain some of the finest lines that ever 
came from Shakespeare's pen. Here are two of the most 
admired : 

1 " The Facts about Shakespeare," Neilson and Thorndike. The Mac- 
millan Company, 1915. 

211 



Appendix. 



29. 

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, 
I all alone beweep my outcast state 
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries 
And look upon myself and curse my fate, 
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, 
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed. 
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope, 
With what I most enjoy contented least ; 
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, 
Haply I think on thee, and then my state, 
Like to the lark at break of day arising 
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate ; 
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings 
That then I scorn to change my state with kings. 

116. 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds 

Admit impediments. Love is not love 

Which alters when it alteration finds. 

Or bends with the remover to remove : 

O, no ! it is an ever-fixed mark 

That looks on tempests and is never shaken ; 

It is the star to every wandering bark, 

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken; 

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 

Within his bending sickle's compass come ; 

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks. 

But bears it out even to the edge of doom. 

If this be error and upon me proved, 

I never writ, nor no man ever loved. 

The storm and stress of tragedy, however, does not con- 
tinue to the end. In the last years Shakespeare turns 

212 



Plays and Poems. 

away from the bitterness and sorrow of life, and leaves 
us as his final message three romantic comedies of de- 
lightful charm. The calm and quiet humor of ^he later 
these plays is very different from the boisterous comedies, 
farce of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and 1610-1612. 
the buffoonery of the clowns in the earlier dramas ; but 
their beauty and sweetness and idealism make a happy 
and fitting close to the poet's work. In " Henry VIII," 
which shows brilliant flashes of his genius, and in "The 
Two Noble Kinsmen," which is not generally included 
among his plays, he writes in collaboration with John 
Fletcher, or with some other of the younger dramatists 
of these later years. He has made his fortune ; he knows 
that his w^ork is done ; he is looking fondly toward his 
Stratford home, and so he turns over his place to other 
men. 

First, — imitating, feeling his way, experimenting, rap- 
idly and eagerly trying everything about him ; then seven 
full years of whole-souled joy of living, enthu- 

Sii tTiTn fl.ry, 

siasm, laughter, and fun ; then deeper emo- 
tions and profound thought upon the saddest and most 
serious things of life ; then a happier time of calm reflec- 
tion and repose, followed by retirement from active work 
in London to the peaceful village home on the Avon ; 
then, after four quiet years, the end. Thus, in a way, we 
begin to understand the development of Shakespeare's 
mind and character by a study of the years in which he 
wrote his plays and poems. 



213 



SHAKESPEARE'S POPULARITY IN HIS OWN DAY 

There somehow exists a quite general feehng that 
Shakespeare's genius was not properly appreciated in his 

own time ; that dramatists, now ranked far 
speare below him, were more popular with audiences 

widely ap- in the days of Queen Elizabeth and King 
predated in James I. Whether this notion comes from the 
I'f f ^^ scarcity of facts which we have concerning the 

poet's life, it is hard to say. Certainly such a 
belief must be ranked among the most unfortunate of 
popular errors. There is ample evidence to show that 
he was not only popular with uneducated London trades- 
men and apprentices who thronged the pit of the Globe, 
but in the best critical judgment of the day he was con- 
sidered the first of poets and dramatists. " Throughout 
his lifetime," says Sidney Lee, "and for a generation 
afterwards, his plays drew crowds to pit, boxes, and gal- 
lery alike. It is true that he was one of a number of 
popular dramatists, many of whom had rare gifts, and all 
of whom glowed with a spark of genuine literary fire. 
But Shakespeare was the sun in the firmament : when his 
light shone, the fires of all contemporaries paled in the 
playgoer's eye."i 

Many bits of evidence have come down to us that show 
hoM^ high a place in people's hearts the plays of Shake- 
Evidences speare held in their author's lifetime. For 
of his popu- instance, when he had been in London but ten 
larity. years he was summoned by Queen Elizabeth 

to play before her and the court at Greenwich in the 

1 Sidney Lee : " Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Playgoer." 
214 



Popularity. 

Christmas holidays. The favor which King James showed 
his tragedies is well known, "Hamlet" was acted 
several times in the first year of its production, both in 
London and at Oxford and Cambridge. Four editions 
were printed in eight years, — an unusual demand for 
those times. Moreover, the name of Shakespeare ap- 
pears in the works of contemporary authors more than 
that of any other dramatist, and almost invariably it is 
coupled with praise and admiration. He is the " mellif- 
luous " and " honey-tongued " poet. One sets him above 
Plautus and Seneca ; another prefers him to Chaucer, 
Gower, and Spenser ; another declares that " he puts them 
all down, ay, and Ben Jonson, too." In the preface of the 
first complete edition of his plays, published seven years 
after his death, the compilers, who were his fellbw-actors 
and friends, wrote of him that he was one " who as he was 
a happie imitator of Nature, was a most gentle expresser 
of. it. His mind and hand went together ; and what he 
thought, he uttered with that easinesse that wee have 
scarse received from him a blot in his papers. But it is 
not our province, who onely gather his works and give 
them you, to praise him. It is yours that reade him. 
And there we hope, to your divers capacities, you will finde 
enough both to draw and hold you; for his wit can no 
more lie hid than it could be lost. Reade him, therefore ; 
and againe and againe ; and if then you doe not like him, 
surely you are in some manifest danger not to understand 

liin^-" BenJon- 

A part of the introductory material of this son's praise 
First Folio edition of the plays consists of o^ Shake- 
poems of praise contributed by the poet's 
admirers. Among the most famous are the noble lines 

2IS 



Appendix. 

of Ben Jonson, scholar, poet, and dramatist. Here are 
the words of a thoughtful critic who knew the theatre from 
the stage and from the audience, — a man who had been 
associated with Shakespeare throughout his London career 
and who understood, better than any other, his place in the 
hearts of English people. 



TO THE MEMORY OF MY BELOVED MASTER WILLIAM 
SHAKESPEARE AND WHAT HE HATH LEFT US 

To draw no envy, Shakespeare, on thy name, 
Am I thus ample to thy book and fame ; 
While I confess thy writings to be such, 
As neither Man nor Muse can praise too much. 



Soul of the age ! 
The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage ! 
My Shakespeare, rise 1 I will not lodge thee by 
Chaucer, or Spenser, or bid Beaumont lie 
A little further to make thee a room : 
Thou art a monument without a tomb, 
And art alive still while thy book doth live, 
And we have wits to read, and praise to give. 
That I not mix thee so my brain excuses, — 
I mean with great, but disproportioned Muses ; 
For if I thought my judgment were of years, 
I should commit thee surely with thy peers, 
And tell how far thou didst our Lyly outshine, 
Or sporting Kyd, or Marlowe's mighty line. 
And though thou hadst small Latin and less Greek 
From thence to honour thee I would not seek 
2l6 



Popularity. 



For names, but call forth thund'ring yEschylus, 
Euripides and Sophocles to us, 
Pacuvius, Accius, him of Cordova dead, 
To life again to hear thy buskin tread, 
And shake a stage ; or when thy socks were on, 
Leave thee alone for a comparison 
Of -all that insolent Greece or haughty Rome 
Sent forth, or since did from their ashes come. 
Triumph, my Britain, thou hast one to show, 
To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe. 
He was not of an age, but for all time ! 
And all the Muses still were in their prime, 
When, like Apollo, he came forth to warm 
Our ears, or like a Mercury to charm ! 
Nature herself was proud of his designs. 
And joyed to wear the dressing of his lines, 
Which were so richly spun, and woven so fit. 
As, since, she will vouchsafe no other wit. 
The merry Greek, tart Aristophanes, 
Neat Terence, witty Plautus, now not please ; 
But antiquated and deserted lie, 
As they were not of Nature's family. 
Yet must I not give Nature all ; thy Art, 
My gentle Shakespeare, must enjoy a part. 
For though the poet's matter nature be. 
His art doth give the fashion ; and that he 
Who casts to write a living line, must sweat 
(Such as thine are) and strike the second heat 
Upon the Muses' anvil, turn the same, 
And himself with it, that he thinks to frame ; 
Or for the laurel he may gain to scorn ; 
For a good poet's made, as well as born. 
217 



Appendix. 

And such wert thou ! Look how the father's face 

Lives in his issue, even so the race 

Of Shakespeare's mind and manners brightly shines 

In his well turned and true filed lines, 

In each of which he seems to shake a lance, 

As brandished at the eyes of ignorance. 

Sweet Swan of Avon ! what a sight it were 

To see thee in our waters yet appear. 

And make those flights upon the banks of Thames, 

That so did take Eliza and our James ! 

But stay, I see thee in the hemisphere 

Advanced, and made a constellation there 1 

Shine forth, thou Star of Poets, and with rage 

Or influence chide or cheer the drooping stage, 

Which, since thy flight from hence, hath mourned like 

night, 
And despairs day but for thy volume's light. 

Even without these lines and numerous other bits of 
unqualified praise from contemporary pens, the fact that 
the plays were financially successful, and that from them 
their author made for those times a small fortune, shows 
us that Shakespeare was truly appreciated by all sorts of 
people in his own day. Before his death he had taken 
the place which he now holds, — that of the foremost of 
Enghsh poets and dramatists. 



2l8 



SHAKESPEARE'S FAME SINCE HIS DEATH 

During the three hundred years since Shakespeare's 
death the popularity of his plays on the stage has natu- 
rally varied somewhat with the changing taste „, , 
of the times. Toward the end of his life a speareon 
decline in the drama had begun, so that the tlie stage 
generation which followed was more pleased °"^°® 1616. 
by the coarse blood-and-thunder tragedies of Webster, 
Ford, and Massinger than by the more profound and more 
artistic work of Shakespeare. Certain ones of the plays 
that very early ceased to be popular on the stage have 
never since come into favor. Most of the histories, two 
or three of the earliest comedies, " All's Well That Ends 
Well," ''Measure for Measure," "Pericles," "Timon of 
Athens," " Troilus and Cressida," and " Coriolanus " have 
seldom been acted since they were first produced. The 
subjects of some of these are not suitable to present in a 
modern theatre ; in others, as in the histories, there is not 
enough action or dialogue to satisfy an audience to-day. 
Yet these make but a small portion of the poet's work. 
With the exception of the twenty years, 1 640-1 660, when 
all theatres in England were closed under the censorship 
of Cromwell's Puritan Government, there never has been 
an age that has not had the opportunity to see its fore- 
most actors in the greater comedies and tragedies that 
came from Shakespeare's pen. 

During the reign of Charles II, in the period known as 
the Restoration, and for the forty years that followed, 
literary taste was at its lowest mark. Naturally Shake- 
speare suffered at a time when the coarse and artificial 

219 



Appendix. 

plays of Wycherley, Vanbrugh, and Farquahar fascinated 

both the nobility and the common people of London. 

His dramas, to be sure, were still presented 

f \hV^^ ^^ ^^^ stage, but they were generally worked 

speare over, or even rewritten, to suit the strange 

during the fancies of the age. With music, new scenes, 

Restora- ^^^ ^^^ characters they were mutilated almost 
tion, 1660- , , . . ^ . ^ . 

1740. beyond recognition, rrom one point of view 

they were spoiled ; yet it is significant that 
even to the theatre-goers of 1680 they still had enough 
vitality and imaginative power to be made the foundation 
of popular and successful entertainments. Dryden, the 
chief poet of the time, admired the genius of their author, 
and wrote prefaces for them in their renovated form. 
Betterton, the greatest actor of the age, was regarded at his 
best as the Prince in " Hamlet," a part which he played on 
many occasions, and always to enthusiastic houses. Sam- 
uel Pepys, who kept a remarkable diary between 1661 and 
1669, records in his journal three hundred and fifty-one 
visits to the London theatres during these eight years. 
On forty-one of these occasions he saw plays by Shake- 
speare, or plays based upon them. Though Pepys was 
entirely unable to appreciate the poetry and all the finer 
qualities of what he heard, — he speaks in especially 
slighting terms of the comedies, — still it is interesting 
to know that he had even the opportunity, in eight 
short years, to witness fourteen different works of the 
great Elizabethan dramatist. This, too, in England's 
darkest age of literary appreciation ! 

The middle of the eighteenth century saw a new and 
genuine enthusiasm for Shakespeare. Scholars began to 
study his life and his work. New editions were published, 
. 220 



Fame. 

with notes and comment. The plays were revived on the 
stage in their original and true form. A great interest in 
all that he had said and thought was born, — 

. 1-1 Xll6 QT&SLu 

an mterest which grew through the years that actors in 
followed, and still is growing. The foremost Shake- 
actors of all times have turned to him for their speare's 

Dlavs 
most ambitious work, and the crowning of 

their professional achievement. Perhaps the greatest of 
them all was David Garrick. " From his first triumph in 
Richard III, in 1741, to his farewell performance of Lear in 
1776, he won a series of signal successes in both tragedy 
and comedy, in Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Richard III, 
Falconbridge, Romeo, Hotspur, lago, Leontes, Posthu- 
mus, Benedick, and Antony. Garrick's services to Shake- 
speare extended beyond the parts which he impersonated. 
He revived many plays, and though he garbled the texts 
freely, yet in comparison with earlier practice he really 
had some right to boast that he had restored the text of 
Shakespeare to the stage. Further, his example led to an 
increased popularity of Shakespeare in the theatre and 
afforded new incentives for other actors. Mrs. Clive, 
Mrs. Gibber, and Mrs. Pritchard were among the women 
who acted with Garrick. Macklin, by his revival of Shy- 
lock as a ttragic character, Henderson, by his impersona- 
tion of Falstaff, and John Palmer in secondary characters, 
as lago, Mercutio, Touchstone, and Sir Tobey, were his 
contemporaries most famous in their day."i After Gar- 
rick came Mrs. Kemble, Edmund Kean, Mrs. Siddons, 
Macready, and Booth, — names remembered to-day chiefly 
in connection with the Shakespearean roles which they 
nobly played. 

1 Neilson and Thorndike : " The Facts about Shakespeare," page 174. 
221 



Appendix. 

Conditions have not changed in our own time. The 
greatest actors of our own generation, Sir Henry Irving, 
Ellen Terry, Helena Modjeska, Ada Rehan, 
speare on Forbes Robertson, Beerbohm Tree, Julia Mar- 
the stage lowe, and Edward Sothern, have been seen at 
to-day. their best in the comedies and tragedies of 

Shakespeare. Even in the twentieth century, with musi- 
cal comedies, vaudeville, and moving-pictures to contend 
with, his plays are presented in greater number than are 
the plays of any other man who has ever lived. Nor are 
they revived merely for the sake of sentiment. They 
draw large audiences of all sorts of people. They still 
pay as purely business undertakings. " The Merchant 
of Venice," '^Julius Caesar," "Hamlet," ''Macbeth," 
"Twelfth Night," "As You Like It," "A Midsummer 
Night's Dream," " Romeo and Juliet," " The Taming of 
the Shrew," and " The Merry Wives of Windsor " still 
earn money for actors and theatre-managers as they did 
three centuries ago. What is far more important, they 
still give pleasure and amusement, they still stir laughter 
and tears and awaken the imagination as they did at the 
Globe in London in the lifetime of their creator. 

Shakespeare, we know, wrote his plays to be acted : to 

him they were distinctly stage productions to be seen and 

_, , heard at the theatre. So little did he think of 

Shake- 
speare's their being read that he apparently had no 

plays read, concern about them in their book form. To- 
act^d^^^^ day, on the contrary, though they still are 
presented on the stage, it is in school and 
college classrooms, in libraries, and in homes that they 
are chiefly known. New editions are constantly appear- 
ing. Plays and novels that were popular twenty years 

222 



Fame. 

ago are Oat of print and difficult to find ; the works of 
Shakespeare, in a dozen different forms, are in every 
book-store of England and America. Quite apart from 
their acting qualities, they have come to be regarded as 
the highest type of literature in our language. 

This is not the place to give an extensive criticism of 
Shakespeare's works, nor a full analysis of the reasons why 
the world regards them so highly apart from whyShake- 
their value as stage performances. It will be speare 
enough to remind the student that in nothing li"^®s. 
that has ever been written do we find a clearer or. more 
faithful portrayal of all the varying moods and emotions 
of human nature. The characters which Shakespeare has 
created live in our minds both as individuals and as types 
of the ideal. He strips away the petty things from life 
and shows us the eternal elements underneath. He has 
that wonderful and rare quality called universality ; for he 
expresses the thoughts and feelings of us all, — the things 
which we know to be great and true. Somewhere in his 
plays everyone finds himself, and the discovery, though he 
may not realize it at the time, makes a lasting impression. 
For Shakespeare is the supreme teacher : he suggests, 
but does not preach, the art of living. Other men have 
done all this. But Shakespeare has left us his wisdom 
and his interpretation of life in a more beautiful and 
stately diction, in phrasing more apt and pleasing, in 
poetry of greater imaginative power, than has ever come 
from the mind of man. 

More books have been written about Shakespeare than 
about any other person who ever lived.^ This is not surpris- 

1 For titles of those books on Shakespeare most interesting to students 
and teachers, see page 259. 

223 



Appendix. 

ing when we consider that the interest in his plays, which 
has existed now for three centuries, is world-wide, and when 
we remember that the language in which he wrote often 
needs explanation and comment to make it perfectly clear 
to the average reader to-day. Almost every English and 
American poet of note has left a tribute to the greatest 
of all poets. Perhaps the best known are Milton's famous 
Epitaph, printed on page viii of this volume, and Ben Jon- 
son's lines contributed to the First Folio in 1623, which 
are given on page 216. Here are a few other short poems, 
or selections from poems, which give honor and praise to 
those characteristics that have made Shakespeare the in- 
spiration and the guiding-star of poets since Elizabethan 
times. 

James Thomson 

For lofty sense, 
Creative fancy, and inspection keen 
Through the deep windings of the human heart, 
Is' not wild Shakespeare thine and Nature's boast? 

Summer — 1727. 

William Collins 

The temper of our isle, though cold, is clear ; 
And such our genius, noble though severe. 
Our Shakespeare scorn'd the trifling rules of art, 
But knew to conquer and surprise the heart 1 
In magic chains the captive thought to bind, 
And fathom all the depths of human kind ! 

On our Late Taste in Music — "^1^^ 
224 



Fa 



me. 



Thomas Gray 



Far from the sun and summer gale 
In thy green lap was Nature's Darling laid, 
What time, where lucid Avon stray'd. 

To him the mighty mother did unveil 
Her awiul face : the dauntless child 
Stretch'd forth his little arms and smiled. 
" This pencil take (she said), whose colours clear 
Richly paint the vernal year : 
Thine too these golden keys, immortal boy ! 
This can unlock the gates of joy ; 
Of horror that, and thrilling fears, 
Or ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears." 

The Progress of Poesy— i7S7' 

Henry Alford 

We stood upon the tomb of him whose praise. 

Time, nor oblivious thrift, nor envy chill. 
Nor war, nor ocean with her severing space. 

Shall hinder from the peopled world to fill ; 
And thus, in fulness of our heart, we cried ; 

God's works are wonderful — the circling sky. 
The rivers that with noiseless footing glide, 

Man's firm-built strength, and woman's liquid eye ; 
But the high spirit that sleepeth here below. 

More than all beautiful and stately things, 
Glory to God the mighty Maker brings ; 

To whom alone 'twas given the bounds to know 
Of human action, and the secret springs 

Whence the deep streams of joy and sorrow flow. 

Stratford-upon-Avon — 1837 



Appendix. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 

There Shakespeare, on whose forehead climb 
The crowns o' the world : O eyes sublime 
With tears and laughter for all time ! 

A Vision of Poets— x'^i^ 

Leigh Hunt 

. . . Humanity's divinest son, 
That sprightliest, gravest, wisest, kindest one . . . 

Thoughts of the Avon — 1844. 

Robert Browning 

— I DECLARE our Poct, him 
Whose insight makes all others dim : 
A thousand Poets pried at life, 
And only one amid the strife 
Rose to be Shakespeare. • 

Christmas Eve and Easter Day — 1850. 

Hartley Coleridge 

Great poet, 'twas thy art 
To know thyself, and in thyself to be 
Whate'er love, hate, ambition, destiny. 
Or the firm, fatal purpose of the heart. 
Can make of Man. Yet thou wert still the same, 
Serene of thought, unhurt by thy own flame. 

To Shakespeare-^ t^Si- 
226 



Fame. 

William Wetmore Story 

. . . Shakespeare, whose strong soul could climb 
Steeps of sheer terror, sound the ocean grand 
Of Passion's deeps, or over Fancy's strand 
Trip with his fairies, keeping step and time. 
His, too, the power to laugh out full and clear, 
With unembittered joyance, and to move 
Along the silent, shadowy paths of love 
As tenderly as Dante, whose austere, 
Stern spirit through the worlds below, above, 
Unsmiling strode, to tell their tidings here. 

The Mighty Makers, II— 1851 

Matthew Arnold 

Others abide our question. Thou art free. 
We ask and ask — thou smilest and art still, 
Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill, 
Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty, 
Planting his steadfast footsteps in the sea. 
Making the heaven of heavens his dwelling-place. 
Spares but the cloudy border of his base 
To the foil'd searching of mortality ; 

And thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know,- 
Self-school'd, self-scann'd, self -honour 'd, self-secure 
Didst tread on earth unguess'd at. — Better so ! 

All pains the immortal spirit must endure. 

All weakness which impairs, all griefs which bow. 

Find their sole speech in that victorious brow. 

Shakespeare — 1867. 
227 



THE THEATRE iOF SHAKESPEARE'S DAY 

When Shakespeare left Stratford and went to London, 
theatres were in their infancy. The first one had been 
Popularity huilt in 1576, when he was a lad of twelve, 
of the first and on his arrival in the city there were but 
theatres. three small wooden structures devoted to the 
production of plays. Enthusiasm for the drama, however, 
was aglow. With the sanction of Queen Elizabeth, her- 
self a lover of pageants and revels, and under the patron- 
age of the powerful Earls of Leicester, Southampton, and 
Rutland, the popular demand for this form of amusement 
grew with amazing rapidity. Theatres shot up one after 
another until in 1633 there were at least nineteen in Lon- 
don, " a number," says Brandes, " which no modern town of 
300,000 inhabitants can equal." Poets, courtiers, scholars, 
— everyone who could write, — turned to the making of 
plays. The art which Shakespeare found in its crude and 
humble beginnings, in the short period of his active life, 
that is, between 1585 and 16 10, developed through every 
stage to its highest form, so that never in the three hun- 
dred years that have since elapsed has the drama of the 
Elizabethan days been surpassed. In this development 
Shakespeare was "a pioneer — almost the creator or first 
designer — as well as the practised workman in unmatched 
perfection."^ 

Though the first theatre in England was not erected 
until Shakespeare was twelve years old, long before his 
time there had been many different kinds of simple plays. 
The instinct to act out a story had existed from the child- 

1 Sidney Lee : " Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Playgoer." 
228 



The Theatre. 

hood of the race. With the earliest telling of legends 
and folktales by minstrels and bards there had often been 
occasion for dramatic recital, dialogue, and piays 
action. For centuries, too, there had been the before 
solemn mysteries and quaint old moralities. *lieatres 
Mummers and bands of strolling players had 
wandered over Europe throughout the Middle Ages. 
The drama, therefore, which flowered in the last half of 
the sixteenth century, was not a new and sudden birth, but 
rather came as the natural outgrowth of centuries of crude 
and humble plays. In the beginning these had been 
closely connected with the service of the church ; in fact, 
they had been a means of religious instruction rather than 
a form of amusement. To understand this more clearly, 
let us compare their origin with that of the Greek drama 
in earlier ages still. 

Many, many centuries before Shakespeare was born, — 
five or six hundred years B.C., — the God Dionysus, or 
Bacchus, was worshipped in Greece at country festivals 
by boisterous groups of men who chanted and marched 
and exchanged bantering jests as they danced about the 
altar and acted out legends connected with the god. 
These actors, who represented the satyr followers of Di- 
onysus, generally were clad in goatskins, whence we have 
our word "tragedy," from the Greek tragos, a The reli- 
goat, and tragodia, a goat-song. From these gious origin 
simple beginnings sprang the drama of Greece, °^ *^® Greek 
which produced -^schylus, Sophocles, and 
Euripides. The religious element persisted in ancient 
times much longer than in England, for the plays of the 
Greek dramatists who correspond to Shakespeare were 
still a form of worship. In the center of the orchestra 

229 



Appendix. 

stood the altar of Dionysus, about which the chorus moved 
in solemn procession, chanting and reciting ; before the 
performance began there were sacrifices to the god, and the 
plays were given in the spring on the days of the Diony- 
sian festival. Greek tragedy was therefore not merely an 
entertainment, but a serious religious function. Begin- 
ning as a popular form of Nature worship, it finally be- 
came a means of expression for the most serious and finest 
of Greek thought and wisdom. As it spread from Athens 
to other towns, little by little it ceased to be a religious 
affair, until at last, as it gradually lost its vitality and 
splendor, its relation to the worship of Dionysus entirely 
disappeared. In similar fashion, comedy (from comos, a 
band of revellers, and ode, a song) developed from the 
ruder, more rustic elements in the worship of the same 
god, though here, as we might expect, the religious ele- 
ment did not persist as long as it did in its greater and 
more serious cousin, tragedy. 

More than eighteen hundred years later, in England, we 
find the beginnings of the drama again closely related to 
Enfflish worship. At a time when few of the common 
drama be- people could read, the priests in the churches 
gins in the found no method of teaching their congre- 
gations the stories of the Bible so effective as 
the use of objects and pictures which appealed to the eye. 
The effectiveness of their teaching was enormously in- 
creased when they added movement, action, and talk to 
their picture lessons. Indeed, it was but a step from the 
impressive and beautiful service of the Mass to a dramatic 
presentation, in simple form, of the most solemn scenes 
in religious history. " In this manner the people not only 
heard the story of the Adoration of the Magi and of the 

230 



The Theatre. 

Marriage in Cana, but saw the story in tableau. In 
course of time the persons in these tableaux spoke and 
moved, and then it was but a logical step to the repre- 
sentation dramatically, by the priests before the altar, of 
the striking or significant events in the life of Christ."^ 

Thus in the services of the church at Christmas, Good 
Friday, and Easter were laid the foundations of our 
modern drama. These earliest performances, r^j^g j^yg. 
which were called Mysteries, dealt wholly with teries and 

Bible stories, from the Creation to the Day Miracle 

Plavs 
of Judgment, and with the life of Christ ; but 

as they became more and more popular with the masses, 

a broader field of subjects was sought, and lives of saints 

were used for dramatic material in the Miracle Plays of 

a century later. Not only were the priests the authors of 

both these simple forms of drama, but with the choir boys 

they were also the actors. For many years these plays 

were given on Holy Days and Saints' Days, either at the 

altar in the church itself, or in the enclosure just outside 

its walls. Their object continued to be largely religious 

instruction. In the Miracle plays, however, there were 

opportunities for a good deal of grotesque amusement. 

Incidents in the lives of the saints were not always serious 

or spiritual. The Devil gradually became more or less of 

a comic character. As the performances grew less solemn 

and awe-inspiring, the attitude of the people toward them 

changed. No longer did they attend them to worship, 

but rather to see a show and be amused. Gradually, 

therefore, they became separated from the service of the 

church, until finally they were banished once for all from 

the sacred walls, and but a few years after they had been 

1 W. H. Mabie : " William Shakespeare-. Poet, Dramatist, and Man." 

231 



Appendix. 

given at the altar they were being denounced by the 
priests as base and wicked things. Indeed, the feeling 
that plays are devices and temptations of Satan, which 
still exists, may be traced to the time, four centuries ago, 
when the drama lost favor with the Church. 

The Mysteries and Miracle Plays did not decline in 
popularity when they were abandoned by the various re- 
Trade- ligious orders. On the contrary, with the 
Guilds and greater freedom and larger opportunity which 
the plays. separation from the church gave them, they 
increased rapidly in the people's favor. They were now 
taken up by the trade-guilds which, by the fifteenth cen- 
tury, developed elaborate and systematic methods of pre- 
senting them. Often different groups of tradesmen, such 
as the weavers' guild or the goldsmiths' guild, would unite, 
each band or " company " presenting an act or scene in the 
play to be undertaken. Huge, two-story covered wagons, 
somewhat like our large moving-vans to-day, took the 
place of stage and property-rooms. The actors dressed 
in the enclosed part of the vehicle, and then mounted a 
ladder or some rough stairs to the top story, or roof, where 
they performed their parts. Announced by heralds, — 
sometimes even by proclamation of the Mayor, — these 
pageants, as they were called, were drawn through the 
town on holidays and occasions of special festival. In 
the course of its progress the moving-stage would stop 
several times, — at the corners of the principal streets, in 
a public square, often at the doors of a church or cathe- 
dral. Then the crowd which had been following in its 
wake gathered about it to witness again the drama of 
Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, of Noah, the 
flood and the ark, of Pilate and Herod, or one of the 

232 



The Theatre. 

numberless other stories with which they had been famil- 
iar from childhood. 

Miracle Plays and Mysteries were followed by the 
Moralities in which abstract qualities such as Pleasure, 
Slander, Rage, Perseverance, and the Seven 
Deadly Sins took the place of characters from ^.^^ 
the Bible. Tliis was a long stride forward. 
Now the field of subjects was greatly enlarged. Origi- 
nality both in writing plays and in producing them was 
now first in demand. Opportunity had come at last for 
the creation of character, and for the use of everyday life 
on the stage. " Everyman," which has often been acted in 
our time, is a good example of what the Moralities at their 
best could be. Like the Miracle plays they were gener- 
ally given by the guilds in marketplaces, enclosures 
of castles, and inn-yards where people could watch them 
from windows and balconies, as well as from the ground 
about the portable stage. Heavy, crude, and dull as these 
old plays now seem to us, they were intensely enjoyed by 
the populace of those far-away simpler times. From the 
eagerness and excitement with which they awaited their 
coming to town, or travelled long distances to see them, 
it is evident that a love of acting was inborn in the hearts 
of the people which sooner or later would develop a more 
finished and artistic drama. 

None of the performers in the Mysteries or Miracle 
Plays had been professional actors ; but now with the 
Moralities came the opportunity for men to Acting as a 
make a business of acting. As religious sub- profession; 
jects gradually disappeared from the pageant companies 
stage, actors by profession came into exist- 
ence. Wandering minstrels and story-tellers, mummers 



Appendix. 

and strolling players, began to join together in troops for 
protection and companionship. " From the days of 
Henry VI onwards, members of the nobility began to en- 
tertain these companies of actors, and Henry VII and 
Henry VIII had their own private comedians. A ' Mas- 
ter of the Revels was appointed to superintend musical 
and dramatic entertainments at court." A little later a 
statute of Parliament declared that " all actors who were not 
attached to the service of a nobleman should be treated as 
rogues and vagabonds, or in other words, might be whipped 
out of any town in which they appeared. This decree, 
of course, compelled all actors to enter the service of one 
great man or other, and we see that the aristocracy felt 
bound to protect their art. A large number of the first 
men in the kingdom, during Elizabeth's reign, had each 
his company of actors. The player received from the 
nobleman, whose 'servant' he was, a cloak bearing the 
arms of the family. On the other hand, he received no 
salary, but was simply paid for each performance given 
before his patron. We must thus conceive Shakespeare 
as bearing on his cloak the arms of Leicester, and after- 
wards of the Lord Chamberlain, until about his fortieth 
year. From 1604 onwards, when the company was pro- 
moted by James I to be His Majesty's Servants, it was 
the Royal arms that he wore."^ 

For many years these companies of professional actors 
had no regular buildings in which to give their perform- 
The first ances. Their plays were presented before 
theatres in their noble patrons in the great halls of their 
London. castles, and occasionally at court for the 
amusement of the king or queen. As late as Shake- 
1 Georg Brandes : " William Shakespeare," page 99. 



The Theatre. 

speare's boyhood they were witnessed by the common 
people in the yards of taverns, in the open streets, or 
on village greens. If the actors played in London, either 
in the guild-halls or out of doors, they first had to obtain 
a license from the Lord Mayor for each performance, and 
then they were obliged to surrender half of their receipts 
to the city treasury. These trying conditions, with the 
growing popularity of the drama among all classes, finally 
led in 1576 to the erection of the first building for acting 
purposes. This was called the Theatre. The following 
year the Curtain was erected ; in 1587, the Rose ; in 1594, 
the Swan ; and in 1599, the Globe. Once begun they 
shot up with wonderful rapidity. When Shakespeare 
arrived in the city there were but three playhouses ; in 
161 1, when he retired to Stratford, there were probably 
ten or twelve. 

In one sense London even then did not possess a 
theatre, for the early playhouses were not in the city at 
all. They were built on a tract of open land xheloca- 
across the Thames, at the further end of Lon- tion of 
don Bridge," outside the walls and well beyond *^e ^^st 
the jurisdiction of the Mayor. The capital 
was then a town of small dimensions, barely a mile square, 
with a population of nearly 200,000 crowded together in 
houses which were constructed largely of wood. The 
streets were narrow, crooked, and muddy. Adequate 
means of fighting fire and disease did not exist. The 
Corporation was therefore strongly opposed to the erection 
of dangerous and inflammable structures upon the few 
vacant spaces within the walls. Moreover, among the 
Puritans, who were coming to be a large and influential 
body, opposition to the drama was growing more marked 

23 s 



Appendix. 

and open ; so that the companies of actors were obliged to 
put up their theatres well beyond the reach of the city's laws. 
Let us now pay a visit to the Globe, to us the most in- 
teresting of all the theatres, for it is here that Shake- 
Th Gl b speare's company acts, and here many of his 
Theatre: plays are first seen on the stage. We cross 
its exter- the Thames by London Bridge with its lines of 

nal ap- crowded booths and shops and throns^s of 

pearance. , ,. , .^ . . ^ 

bustlmg tradesmen ; or if it is fine weather we 

take a small boat and are rowed over the river to the 
southern shores. Here on the Bankside, in the part of 
London now called Southwark, beyond the end of the 
bridge, and in the open fields near the Bear Garden, 
stands a roundish, three-story wooden building, so high 
for its size that it looks more like a clumsy, squatty tower 
than a theatre. As we draw nearer we see that it is not 
exactly round after all, but is somewhat hexagonal in 
shape. The walls seem to slant a little inward, giving it 
the appearance of a huge thimble, or cocked hat, with six 
flattened sides instead of a circular surface. There are 
but few small windows and two low shabby entrances. 
The whole structure is so dingy and unattractive that we 
stand before it in wonder. Can this be the place where 
"Hamlet," ''The Merchant of Venice," and "Julius 
Caesar " are put on the stage I 

Our amazement on stepping inside is even greater. 
The first thing that astonishes us is the blue sky over our 
The Globe heads. The building has no roof except a 
Theatre: narrow strip around the edge and a covering 
the in- at the rear over the back part of the stage. 

tenor. rj,^^ front of the stage and the whole center of 

the theatre is open to the air. Now we see how the in- 

236 




The Globe Theatre 





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Interior of an Elizabethan Theatre 
Godfrey's reconstruction of the Fortune Theatre 



\A 



The Theatre. 

terior is lighted, though with the sunshine must often come 
rain and sleet and London fog. Looking up and out at 
the clouds floating by, we notice that a flag is flying from 
a short pole on the roof over the stage. This is most im- 
portant, for it is announcing to the city across the river 
that this afternoon there is to be a play. It is bill-board, 
newspaper notice, and advertisement in one : and we may 
imagine the eagerness with which it is looked for among 
the theatre-loving populace of these later Elizabethan 
years. When the performance begins the flag will be 
lowered to proclaim to all that " the play is on." 

Where, now, shall we sit? Before us on the ground 
level is a large open space, which corresponds to the 

orchestra circle on the floor of a modern play- „ ,. 

. ^ -^ Seating ar- 

house. But here there is only the flat bare rangements 

earth, trodden down hard, with rushes and in the 

straw scattered over it. There is not a sign t^e^*]^©: 

^ the pit. 
of a seat! This is the ''yard," or, as it is 

sometimes called, "the pit," where, by paying a penny or 
two, London apprentices, sailors, laborers, and the mixed 
crowd from the streets may stand jostling together. Some 
of the more enterprising ones may possibly sit on boxes 
and stools which they bring into the building with them. 
Among these " groundlings " there will surely be bustling 
confusion, noisy wrangling, and plenty of danger from 
pickpockets ; so we look about us to find a more comfort- 
able place from which to watch the performance. 

On three sides of us, and extending well around the 
stage, are three tiers of narrow balconies. In ^^ 
some places these are divided into compart- balconies 
ments, or boxes. The prices here are higher, ^^^ boxes, 
varying from a few pennies to half a crown, according to 

237 



Appendix. 

the location. By putting our money into a box held out to 
us, — there are no tickets, — we are allowed to climb the 
crooked wooden stairs to one of these compartments. 
Here we find rough benches and chairs, and above all a 
little seclusion from the throng of men and boys below. 
Along the edge of the stage we observe that there are 
stools, but these places, elevated and facing the audience, 
seem rather conspicuous, and besides the prices are high. 
They will be taken by the young gallants and men of 
fashion of London, in brave and brilliant clothes, with 
light sw^ords at their belts, wide ruffled collars about their 
necks, and gay plumes in their hats. It will be amusing 
to see them show off their fine apparel, and display their 
wit at the expense of the groundlings in the pit, and even 
of the actors themselves. We are safer, however, and 
much more comfortable here in the balcony among the 
more sober, quiet gentlemen of London, who with me- 
chanics, tradesmen, nobles, and shop-keepers have come 
to see the play. 

The moment we entered the theatre we were impressed 

by the size af the stage. Looking down upon it from the 

balcony, it seems even larger and very near us. 

T1I6 St£lg6. ..... - , . . 

If it is like the stage of the Fortune it is square, 
as shown in the illustration facing page 236. Here in 
the Globe it is probably narrower at the front than at 
the back, tapering from the rear wall almost to a point. 
Whatever its shape, it is only a roughly-built, high platform, 
open on three sides, and extending halfway into the 
"yard." Though a low railing runs about its edge, there 
are no footlights, — all performances are in the afternoon 
by the light of day which streams down through the open 
top, — and strangest of all there is no curtain. At each 

238 



The Theatre. 

side of the rear we can see a door that leads to the " tir- 
ing-rooms," where the actors dress, and from which they 
make their entrances. These are the "green-rooms " and 
wings of our theatre to-day. Between the doors is a cur- 
tain that now before the play begins is drawn together. 
Later when it is pulled aside, — not upward as cur- 
tains usually are noM^, — we shall see a shallow recess or 
alcove which serves as a secondary, or inner stage. Over 
this extends a narrow balcony covered by a roof which is 
supported at the front corners by two columns that stand 
well out from the wall. Still higher up, over the inner 
stage, is a sort of tower, sometimes called the " hut," and 
from a pole on this the flag is flying which summons the 
London populace from across the Thames. Rushes are 
strewn over the floor ; there are no drops or wings or 
walls of painted scenery. In its simphcity and bareness 
it reminds us of the rude stage of the strolling players. 
Indeed, the whole interior of the building seems to be but 
an adaptation of the tavern-yard and village-green. 

Hov/, we wonder, can a play hke " Julius Caesar " or 
" The Merchant of Venice " be staged on such a crude 
affair as this ! What are the various parts of 
it for ? Practically all acting is done, we shall ^^.^ ® 
see, on the front of the platform well out 
among the crowd in the pit, with the audience on three 
sides of the performers. All out-of-door scenes will be 
acted here, from a conversation in the streets of Venice or 
a dialogue in a garden, to a battle, a procession, or a 
banquet in the Forest of Arden. Here, too, with but the 
slightest alteration, or even with no change at all, interior 
scenes will be presented. With the " groundlings " 
crowded close up to its edges, and with young gallants 

239 



Appendix. 

sitting on its sides, this outer stage comes close to the 
people. On it will be all the main action of the drama : 
the various arrangements at the rear are for supplemen- 
tary purposes and certain important effects. 

The inner stage, or alcove beyond the curtain, is used 
in many ways. It may serve for any room somewhat 

removed from the scene of action, such as a 
Uses of the 4. j t^ r^ • j ^ 

inner stage Passage-way or a study. It often is made to 

represent a cave, a shop, or a prison. Here 
Othello, in a frenzy of jealous passion, strangles Desde- 
mona as she lies in bed ; here probably the ghost of Cae- 
sar appears to Brutus in his tent on the plains of Philippi ; 
here stand the three fateful caskets in the mansion at Bel- 
mont, as we see by Portia's words, 

*' Go, draw aside the curtains^ and discover 
The several caskets to this noble Prince." 

Tableaux and scenes within scenes, such as the short 
play in " Hamlet " by which the prince " catches the con- 
science of the king," are acted in this recess. But the 
most important use is to give the effect of a change of 
scene. By drawing apart and closing the curtain, with a 
few simple changes of properties in this inner compart- 
ment, a different background is possible. By such a slight 
variation of setting at the rear, the platform in the pit is 
transformed, by the quick imagination of the spectators, 
from a field or a street to a castle hall or a wood. Thus, 
the whole stage becomes the Forest of Arden by the use of 
a little greenery in the distance. Similarly, a few trees and 
shrubs at the rear of the inner stage, when the curtain is 
thrown aside, will change the setting from the court-room 
in the fourth act of " The Merchant of Venice," to the 

240 



The Theatre. 

scene in the garden at Belmont which immediately 

follows. 

The balcony over the inner stage serves an important 

purpose, too. With the windows, which are often just 

over the doors leadinpf to the tirins^-rooms, it „ 

^^ ^ ^ . TJses of the 

gives the effect of an upper story m a house, balcony 

of walls in a castle, a tower, or any elevated over the 

position. This is the place, of course, where s*^&®- 

Juliet comes to greet Romeo who is in the garden below. 

In "Julius Caesar " when Cassius says, 

" Go Pindarus, get higher on that hill; 

And tell me what thou notest about the field," 

the soldier undoubtedly climbs to the balcony, for a mo- 
ment later, looking abroad over the field of battle, he re- 
ports to Cassius what he sees from his elevation. Here 
Jessica appears when Lorenzo calls under Shylock's win- 
dows, " Ho ! who's within ? " and on this balcony she is 
standing when she throws down to her lover a box of her 
father's jewels. " Here, catch this casket ; it is worth the 
pains," she says, and retires into the house, appearing 
below a moment later to run away with Lorenzo and his 
masquerading companions. 

Besides these simple devices, if we look closely enough 
we shall see a trap-door, or perhaps two, in the platform. 
These are for the entrance of apparitions and demons. 

They correspond, in a way, to the balcony by 

' ' ^x. ct . c 11 .1, ^1, 1 Other stage 

givmg the effect of a place lower than the stage ^gyj^gg 

level. Thus in the first scene of " The Tem- 
pest," which takes place in a storm at sea, the notion 
of a ship may be suggested to the audience by sailors 

241 



Appendix. 

entering from the trap-door, as they might come up a 
hatchway to a deck. If it is a play with gods and 
goddesses and spirits, we may be startled to see them 
appear and disappear through the air. Evidently there 
is machinery of some sort in the hut over the balcony 
which can be used for lowering and raising deities and 
creatures that live above the earth. On each side of the 
stage is a flight of steps leading to the balcony. These are 
often covered, as plainly shown by Mr. Godfrey's reconstruc- 
tion of the Fortune Theatre facing page 236. Here sit 
councils, senates, and princes with their courts. Macbeth 
uses them to give the impression of ascending to an upper 
chamber when he goes to kill the king, and down them he 
rushes to his wife after he has committed the fearful murder. 
What astonishes us most, however, is the absence of 
scenery. To be sure, some slight attempt has been made 

to create scenic illusion. There are, perhaps, 
the'staffe^ a few trees and boulders, a table, a chair or 

two, and pasteboard dishes of food. But 
there is little more. In the only drawing of the interior of 
an EHzabethan theatre that has been preserved, — a sketch 
of the Swan made in 1596, — the stage has absolutely no 
furniture except one plain bench on which one of the actors 
is sitting. Here before us in the Globe the walls may be 
covered with loose tapestries, black if the play is to be a 
tragedy, blue if a comedy ; but it is quite possible that 
they are entirely bare. A placard on one of the pillars 
announces that the stage is now a street in Venice, now a 
courtroom, now the hall of a stately mansion. It may be 
that the Prologue, or even the actors themselves, will tell 
us at the opening of an act just where the scene is laid 
and what we are to imagine the platform to represent. 

242 



The Theatre. 

In " Henry V,*' for instance, the Prologue at the begin- 
ning not only explains the setting of the play, but asks 
forgiveness of the audience for attempting to put on the 
stage armies and battles and the " vasty fields of France." 

" But pardon, gentles all, 
The flat unrais^d spirit that hath dared 
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth 
So great an object. Can this cockpit hold 
The vasty fields of France ? or may we cram 
Within this 7i)ooden O the very casques 
That did affright the air at Agincourt ? 
O, pardon ! since a crooked figure may 
Attest in little place a million ; 
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt, 
On your imaginary forces work. 
Suppose within the girdle of these walls 
Are now confined two mighty monarchies, 
Whose high-upreared and abutting fronts 
The perilous, narrow ocean parts asunder. 
Piece out our imperfections wdth your thoughts ; 
Into a thousand parts divide one man, 
And make imaginary puissance. 
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them 
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth. 
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, 
Carry them here and there, jumping o'er times, 
Turning the accomplishment of many years 
Into an hour-glass." 

In ''As You Like It " it is an actor who tells us at the 
opening of the second act that we are now to imagine the 
Forest of Arden before us. In the first sentence which 



Appendix. 

the banished Duke speaks, he says, " Are not these woods 
more free from peril than the envious court ? " and a mo- 
ment later, when Touchstone and the runaway maidens 
first enter the woods, Rosalind exclaims, " Well, this is 
the Forest of Arden ! " A hint, a reference, a few simple 
contrivances, a placard or two, — these are enough. 
" Imaginary forces " are here in the audience keenly alive, 
and they will do the rest. By means of them, without the 
illusion of scenery, the bare wooden stage will become a 
ship, a garden, a palace, a London tavern. Whole armies 
will enter and retire by a single door. Battles will rage, 
royal processions pass in and out, graves will be dug, 
lovers will woo, — and all with hardly an important alter- 
ation of the setting. Lack of scenery does not limit the 
type of scenes that can be presented. On the contrary, 
it gives almost unlimited opportunities to the dramatist, 
for the spectators, in the force and freshness of their im- 
agination, are children who willingly " play " that the stage 
is anything the author suggests. Their youthful enthusi- 
asm, their simple tastes, above all their lack of knowledge 
of anything different, give them the enviable power of imag- 
ining the grandest, most beautiful, and most varied scenes 
on the same bare, unadorned boards. Apparently they 
are well satisfied with their stage ; for it is not until 
nearly fifty years after Shakespeare's death that movable 
scenery is used in an English theatre. 

It is now three o'clock and time for the performance to 
begin. Among the motley crowd of men and boys in the 
The per- yard there is no longer room for another box 
formanceof or stool. They are evidently growing im- 
a play. patient and jostle together in noisy confusion. 

Suddenly three long blasts on a trumpet sound. The 

244 



The Theatre. 

mutterings in the pit subside, and all eyes turn toward 
the stage. First an actor, clothed in a black mantle and 
wearing a laurel wreath on his head, comes from behind 
the curtain and recites the prologue. From it we learn 
something of the story of the play to follow, and possibly 
a little about the scene of action. This is all very wel- 
come, for we have no programs and the plot of the drama 
is unfamiliar. In a minute or two the Prologue retires 
and the actors of the first scene enter. We are soon im- 
pressed by the rapidity with which the play moves on. 
There is little stage " business " ; though there may be 
some music betvs^een the acts, still there are no long waits ; 
one scene follows another as quickly as the actors can 
make their exits and entrances. The whole play, there- 
fore, does not last much over two hours. At the close 
there is an epilogue, spoken by one of the actors, after 
which the players kneel and join in a prayer for the 
queen. Then comes a final bit of amusement for the 
groundlings : the clown, or some other comic character of 
the company, sings a popular song, dances a brisk and 
boisterous jig, and the performance of the day is done. 

During our novel experience this afternoon at the 
Globe, nothing has probably surprised us more than the 
elaborate and gorgeous costumes of the actors, costumes 
At a time when so little attention is paid to of the 
scenery we naturally expect to find the dress ^-^tors. 
of the players equally simple and plain. But we are 
mistaken. The costumes, to be sure, make little or no 
pretension to fit the period or place of action. Caesar 
appears in clothes such as are worn by a duke or an earl 
in 1601. "They are the ordinary dresses of various 
classes of the day, but they are often of rich material, and 

24s 



Appendix. 

in the height of current fashion. False hair and beards, 
crowns and sceptres, mitres and croziers, armour, hel- 
mets, shields, vizors, and weapons of war, hoods, bands, 
and cassocks, are relied on to indicate among the charac- 
ters differences of rank or profession. The foreign ob- 
server, Thomas Platter of Basle, was impressed by the 
splendor of the actors' costumes. ' The players wear the 
most costly and beautiful dresses, for it is the custom in 
England, that when noblemen or knights die, they leave 
their finest clothes to their servants, who, since it would 
not be fitting for them to wear such splendid garments, 
sell them soon afterwards to the players for a small 
sum.' "^ But no money is spared to secure the fitting gar- 
ment for an important part. Indeed, it is quite probable 
that more is paid for a king's velvet robe or a prince's 
silken doublet than is given to the author for the play 
itself. Whether the elaborate costumes are appropriate 
or not, their general effect is pleasing, for they give variety 
and brilliant color to the bare and unattractive stage. 

If we are happily surprised by the costuming of the 
play, what shall we say of the actors who take the female 
Female parts ! They are very evidently not women, or 

parts taken even girls, but boys whose voices have not 
by boys. changed, dressed, tricked out, and trained to 
appear as feminine as possible. It is considered un- 
seemly for a woman to appear on a public stage, — in- 
deed, the professional actress does not exist and will not 
be seen in an English theatre for nearly a century. 
Meanwhile plays are written with few female parts (re- 
member " The Merchant of Venice," " Julius Caesar," and 
" Macbeth ") and young boys are trained to take these 

• 1 Sidney Lee : " Shakespeare and the Modern Stage," page 41, 
246 



The Theatre. 

roles. The theatregoers seem to enjoy the performance 
just as much as we do to-day with mature and accom- 
pHshed actresses on the stage. Shakespeare and his 
fellow dramatists treated the situation with good grace or 
indifference. Thus in the epilogue of " As You Like It " 
Rosalind says to the audience, " If I were a woman I would 
kiss as many of you as had beards that pleased me." The 
jest, of course, consists in the fact that she is not a woman 
at all, but a stripling. In a more tragic vein Cleopatra, 
before she dies, complains that " the quick comedians . . . 
will stage us, . . . and I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra 
boy my greatness." It may be that the boys who take the 
women's parts this afternoon wear masks to make them 
seem less masculine, though how that can improve the 
situation it is difficult to understand. There is an amus- 
ing reference to this practice in " A Midsummer Night's 
Dream." When Flute, the bellows-mender, is assigned a 
part in the drama which the mechanics of Athens are 
rehearsing, he exclaims, " Nay, faith, let me not play a 
woman ; I have a beard coming " ; to which protest Quince 
replies, " That's all one : you shall play it in a mask, and 
you may speak as small as you will." 

Though rapid action, brilliant costumes, and, above all, 
the force and beauty of the lines, may lead us to forget 
that the heroine is only a boy, it is more diffi- -. 
cult to keep our attention from being distracted audience 
by the audience around us. It surprises us at the 
that there are so few women present. We "1°°®- 
notice, too, that many of those who have come wear a 
mask of silk or velvet over their faces. Evidently it is 
hardly the proper thing for a respectable woman to be 
seen in a public theatre. The people in the balconies are 

247 



Appendix. 

fairly orderly, but below in the pit the crowd is restless, 
noisy, and at times even boisterous. Bricklayers, dock- 
laborers, apprentices, serving-men, and idlers stand in 
jostling confusion. There are no police and no laws that 
are enforced. Pickpockets ply an active trade. One, 
we see, has been caught and is bound to the railing at the 
edge of the stage where he is an object of coarse jests and 
ridicule. Refreshment-sellers push about in the throng 
with apples and sausages, nuts and ale. There is much 
eating and drinking and plenty of smoking. On the stage 
the gallants are a constant source of bother to the players. 
They interrupt the Prologue, criticise the dress of the 
hero, banter the heroine, and joke with the clown. 
Even here in the gallery we can hear their comments — 
far from flattering — upon a scene that does not please 
them ; when a little later they applaud, their praises are 
just as vigorous. Once it seems as though the play is 
going to be brought to a standstill by a wrangling quarrel 
between one of these rakish gentlemen and a group of 
groundlings near the stage. Their attention, however, is 
taken by the entrance of the leading actor declaiming a 
stirring passage, and their differences are soon forgotten. 
It is, on the whole, a good-natured rough crowd of the 
common people, the fower and middle classes from the 
great city across the river, — more like the crowd one sees 
to-day at a circus or a professional ball-game than at a 
theatre of the highest type. They loudly cheer the clown's 
final song and dance, and then with laughter, shouting, 
and jesting they pour out of the yard and in a moment 
the building is empty. The play is over until to-morrow 
afternoon. 

What a contrast it all has been to a play in a theatre of 
248 



The Theatre. 

the twentieth century ! When we think of the uncomfort- 
able benches, the flat bare earth of the pit, the lack of 
scenery, footlights, and drop curtains ; when we hear the 
shrill voices of boys piping the women's parts, and see 
mist and rain falling on spectator's heads, we are in- 
clined to pity the playgoer of Elizabethan conclusions 
times. Yet he needs no pity. To him the to be 
theatre of his day was sufficient. The drama d^^^-wn. 
enacted there was a source of intense and genuine pleas- 
ure. His keen enthusiasm ; his fresh, youthful eagerness ; 
above all, his highly imaginative power, — far greater 
than ours to-day, — gave him an ability to understand and 
enjoy the poetry and dramatic force of Shakespeare's 
works, which we, with all the improvements of our palatial 
theatres, cannot equal. Crude, simple, coarse as they 
now seem to us, we can look back only with admiration 
upon the Swan and the Curtain and the Globe ; for in 
them ''The Merchant of Venice," "As You Like It," 
"Julius Caesar," "Hamlet," and "Macbeth" were re- 
ceived with acclamations of joy and wonder. In them 
the genius of Shakespeare was recognized and given a 
place in the drama of England which now, after three cen- 
turies have passed, it holds in the theatres and in the 
literature of all the world. 



249 



Appendix. 



ACTING SHAKESPEARE 

[Suggestions to teachers and pupils as to the dramatization of 
scenes from the plays.] 

No one will doubt that the best way to understand 
Shakespeare is to see him competently acted. Not all 
of us realize, however, the interest and value of acting 
him ourselves. The average schoolboy is likely to look 
upon any suggestion of a performance from any of the plays 
as a dubious proceeding, while the average teacher is 
inclined to lock up the great play-maker in the safe seclu- 
sion of the class-room. 

And yet how easily one can picture the amusement of 
Shakespeare himself if he were to look in upon a class of 
Shakespeare ^^Y^ ^^d girls seated at their desks busily en- 
in the class- gaged in hammering out meanings, "problems," 
^®®™* and character-analyses. "Threw all this to 

the dogs ! " he would cry. " I'll none of it ! " And in five 
minutes he would have every one on his feet, book or no 
book, moving, speaking, declaiming, making all possible 
mistakes and "misinterpretations," but — living, acting, 
and turning a rattle of dry bones into something like the 
form and body intended in the play. In ten minutes more 
half the class would be seated again, but now as a rapt 
and attentive audience watching a real Shylock creeping 
towards a real Antonio in the crowded court-room, or a 
flesh and blood Hamlet walking with his friends on the 
lonely platform at Elsinore, or the rush of the conspirators 
towards the unsuspecting and defenseless Caesar. So 
the work would swing forward, haltingly, indeed, and 

250 



Acting Shakespeare. 

with many breaks and readjustments. But one can 
picture, at the end of the hour, the emergence of the class 
from the dead letter to the spirit that giveth life. 

Something of this kind is within the power of every 
teacher of Shakespeare. The first point to be remembered 
is that the plays were originally written to be acted, not 
read; that, as a matter of fact, they were usually 
kept out of book form in order that people should not 
read them. The second point of importance is that there 
were very many boy actors in Shakespeare's day who 
acted Shakespeare's plays, and acted them well — as 
may easily be seen from the current criticism of the day. 
The chief difficulty in the way of class-room acting is 
perhaps (or is thought to be) the difficulty of the language. 
But here the difficulty is more imagined than real ; many 
supposed obscurities will be solved by a reading aloud, 
and as for the rest, it will be found that they will clear 
of themselves with the progress of the acting. 

The question of scenery (I am speaking now entirely 
of class-room acting) is not hard to deal with. If a plat- 
form be available, so much the better. If not, set apart 
the front third of the room for a stage ; mark it off by a 
chalk line and let it be understood that this space is for the 
actors alone. It is surprising to see how eagerly young 
people throw themselves into this game of make-believe. 
A stick, a cloak, an old hat or two and a couple of chairs will 
turn out to be valuable properties when every one realizes 
that ''the play's the thing" and that imagina- scenery not 
tion must be used to piece out what is lacking, difficult. 
Shakespeare faced similar lacks. But he trusted to the im- 
agination of his audiences and did not hesitate to suggest on 

251 



Appendix. 

the bare stage of the Globe Theatre a precipice beethng over 
the sea, a lonely castle at midnight, a battlefield marched 
over by opposing armies, a sinking ship, a tavern, or a 
king's chamber ''canopied with costly state." When we 
see the plays as acted on the stage to-day, with every artis- 
tic accompaniment that the mind can devise or the hand 
can execute, we are likely to forget the absolute simplicity 
of the conditions under which they were first produced. 
It is quite safe to trust young actors ; they will not bother 
their heads about scenic effects. They will do better: 
they will supply them in their own thoughts and act 
accordingly. A boy of twelve, draped in an old curtain, 
will turn wearily from the blackboard that represents a 
window of the palace overlooking the sleeping city and, 
sinking into a class-room chair, will bow his head on his 
hands and begin : 

How many thousand of my poorest subjects 
Are at this hour asleep ! O sleep, O gentle sleep, 
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee. 
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down, 
And steep my senses in f orgetf ulness ? 

And he'll mean it, too, every word of it. It needs only 
a suggestion from the teacher — a word here and there — 
and the thing is done. As for the teacher, he must have 
a real love for the work, and an understanding heart, 
and there is not much hmit to what he can do. If he has 
not love and understanding, he has no business to be 
teaching Shakespeare. 

Some of the plays lend themselves better than others 
to class-room acting. Thus, it is probable that ''The 

252 



Acting Shakespeare. 

Merchant of Venice," with its strongly marked characters 
and definite situations, is better adapted than most of 
Shakespeare's dramas to the minds of young people. 
The Trial Scene makes a delightful little play in itself. 
"Julius Caesar" offers two excellent oppor- gcenes 
tunities for class-room work in the Murder adapted 
Scene and the Mob Scene. The Mob, during *° ^^*^''^- 
Antony's speech, presents interesting possibilities. The 
"drowning out" of Antony's remarks, his efforts to make 
himself heard above the shouts of these turbulent citizens 
and his final winning over of the crowd, afford plenty of 
opportunity for vigorous acting. 

In "Hamlet" there is nothing so readily to be 
seized upon by the young actors, yet the play contains 
several scenes which can be used very effectively. Thus 
in Act I we have Scene i marked by striking dia- 
logue, with a touch of real horror when the Ghost ap- 
pears. Scene 2, from line 159 to the end, is full of strong 
feeling. The two closing Scenes, while they contain 
some long speeches, are nevertheless worth careful study 
because of the changes in the mind of Hamlet — first 
controlled excitement, then horror, then the feverish, 
almost hysterical effort for self-control, then the blind 
reaching out after some plan of action, ending with the 
deep pathos of the last four lines. The various scenes 
which portray the madness of Hamlet are a little difficult 
— though not beyond the compass of a clever boy ; the 
Graveyard Scene is grim comedy turning almost to 
tragedy; the conversation with Osric is amusing satire. 
The Duel Scene offers a problem in stage management 
which calls for much ingenuity. But, it will be objected, 

253 



Appendix. 

this sort of thing is not possible. How can children act 
a play which has taxed the powers of the greatest actors ? 
The answer is that we do not expect them to rival the 
greatest actors; and, as corollary, that the quality of 
acting shown by an intelligent boy who is really interested 
(in '^Hamlet" or any other Shakespeare play) is generally 
better than would be expected. Moreover, the whole 
object of this class-room acting is not to raise a brood of 
great actors, but to bring into what we must call (unfor- 
tunately) the "study" of Shakespeare something near to 
what Shakespeare intended when he wrote the plays. 

Of the other plays, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" 
simply cries out to be acted by boys and girls — so does 
"As You Like It." "The Tempest" presents some 
scenes of great value for class-room work. "Twelfth 
Night" is crowded with delightful situations: take, for 
but one example, the duel between Viola and Sir Andrew. 
The historical plays are less generally read by young 
people than those which have been mentioned ; but there 
are some excellent bits to be found in them. The character 
of Falstaff, for instance, is one which should be better 
known in schools : the Gadshill Scenes in the First Part 
of "King Henry IV" show him at his best (see I. 2, II. i, 
II. 2, II. 4, III. 3). It is quite possible to cut out any 
occasional coarseness without injury to the play. The 
same is true of the Recruiting Scene (Second Part, III. 2). 
The historical plays are full of fine character studies 
and noble poetical passages. 

For those teachers who wish to step outside the class- 
room and give Shakespeare before a "real" audience, it 
may be suggested that the matter is not nearly so difficult 

254 



Acting Shakespeare. 

as it seems. No elaborate scenery is required, for it is 
a remarkable thing about Shakespeare's plays that while 
they lend themselves to the most beautiful and artistic 
stage -settings that can be created, yet at the same time 
they can be acted with equal effect under the simplest 
possible conditions. Those who have seen the Ben Greet 
Players and other similar companies who aim at simplicity 
will know that scenery by no means makes the play. 
A room with sHghtly raised stage, simple light- ^^^^^2 out- 
ing, costuming of good materials and colors — side the 
these are all that are actually necessary to the ^ ^ss-room. 
setting. If to these can be added clear voice and easy 
stage presence, all the conditions of a thoroughly adequate 
performance are present. Even these plain requirements, 
however, are not gained all at once. But there is one 
thing which will smooth out many a rough place — the 
enthusiasm of the actors. The mere suggestion of a 
public performance will arouse intense interest in the 
average class reading Shakespeare. This interest may be 
turned into channels which involve a surprising amount of 
hard work, and will carry that work through. 

The public performance should grow out of the regular 
class work, for in this way the intimate discussions of the 
daily routine can be made to bear good fruit. Thus, too, 
the performance will not seem to be something outside, 
and apart ; it will develop as the natural result of all that 
has been learned in the class-room. The equipment of 
the young players will be sound, they will have grown 
gradually and naturally into the parts they are to play, 
and the actual "coaching" will become a very pleasant 
thing. Both teacher and pupil will gain much from a 

255 



Appendix. 

play thus worked out; many theories will be tested, 
many plans tried. 

And over all the endeavor, all the failures and recoveries, 
will be the feeling of how much it is worth while ; how 
good it is, in a school play, to face big problems ; to touch 
behind the play a great personality. Thus wrought out 
the acting takes on dignity; the actor's mind becomes 
stored with fine images, with thoughts that are clean and 
beautiful. 

All the world's a stage. 
And all the men and women merely players . . . 

It is something to follow the goodly company of those who 
have interpreted on the stage the great truths that 
Shakespeare found in life and set forth in noble words. 



256 



Scenes, 



SUGGESTED SCENES FOR DRAMATIZATION 

The following scenes from some of the Plays will be 
found easily adaptable to school use. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

The Fairy Scenes. Act II, scenes 1,2; Act III, scene i ; 

Act IV, scene i. 
The Clown Scenes. Act I, scenes 2 ; Act III, scene i ; 

Act IV, scene 2 ; Act V, scene i. 

The Merchant of Venice. 
The Trial Scene. Act IV, scene i. 

Twelfth Night. 

The Tricking of Malvolio. Act I, scene 3 ; Act II, 
scene 3 ; Act II, scene 5 ; Act III, scene 4 ; Act IV, 
scene 2 ; Act V, scene i. 

The Duel Scene. Act III, scene 2 ; scene 4. 

Henry IV, First Part. 

The Robbery and the "Men in Buckram." Act I, 

scene 2 ; Act II, scene i ; scene 2 ; scene 4 ; x\ct III, 

scene 3. 
These scenes should not be attempted without a good 

Falstaff. Any coarseness can be readily eliminated 

by intelligent editing. 

Henry V. 

The French Lesson and the Wooing of Katherine. 
Act III, scene 4 ; Act V, scene 2, in part. 
257 



Appendix. 

Julius Caesar. 

The Murder Scene. Act III, scene i. 

Antony's Speech. Act III, scene 2. 

These two scenes may be taken consecutively and have 
been found to be very effective in the hands of inteUi- 
gent boys. Everything depends upon the quahty 
of the speaking and acting — the scenery may be 
either very simple or as elaborate as may be per- 
mitted by the resources of the school. 

Hamlet. 

The Ghost Scenes. Act I, scene i ; scene 2, beginning 
with the entry of Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo ; 
scenes 4 and 5. This selection will not, of course, make 
a play complete in itself. The dramatic quality, how- 
ever, is unusually interesting, while the question of 
scenic effect presents a fascinating problem to any 
class that is willing to work it out. 

The Gravedigger Scene. Act V, scene i. It should 
close with the hne: "Should patch a wall to expel 
the winter's flaw." So arranged, the scene possesses 
great possibilities for careful acting. 

An enthusiastic teacher who understands his Shake- 
speare can make adaptations from almost any of the plays. 
Time, patience, and hard work are needed ; but there is 
probably no branch of English teaching where the rewards 
are so thoroughly satisfactory. 



258 



Books of Interest. 



BOOKS OF INTEREST TO STUDENTS OF 
SHAKESPEARE 

[A bibliography of works on Shakespeare would make 
a volume of considerable size. Here are a few of the 
most useful books for students and teachers.] 

' A Life of William Shakespeare. 

Sidney Lee. The Macmillan Co. 
The Facts about Shakespeare. 

Neilson and Thorndike. The Macmillan Co. 
Shakespeare. 

Walter Raleigh. The Macmillan Co. 
Introduction to Shakespeare. 

Edward Dowden. Charles Scribner's Sons. 
William Shakespeare. 

John Masefield. Henry Holt and Co. 
Shakespeare : the Boy. 

W. J. RoLFE. Harper Bros. 
Shakespeare's England. 

William Winter. Moffat, Yard and Co. 
Shakespeare Manual. 

F. G. Fleay. The Macmillan Co. 
Shakespeare and the Modern Stage. 

Sidney Lee. Charles Scribner's Sons. 
The Development of Shakespeare as a Dramatist. 

George P. Baker. The Macmillan Co. 
Shakespeare' s Theatre. 

Ashley H. Thorndike. The Macmillan Co. 
Handbook to the Works of Shakespeare. 

Morton Luce. George Bell and Sons. 
259 



Appendix. 

Characters of Shakespeare^ s Plays. 

William Hazlitt. J. M. Dent 
(Everyman's Library). 
Elizabethan England. 

L. WiTHiNGTON. Walter Scott (London). 
Shakespeare and Music. 

Edward W. Naylor, Mus. Bac. J. M. Dent 

& Co. (London). 

An interesting story of Shakespeare's times is Master 
^^yar^, John Bennett (the Century Co.). Scott's Ke:i- 
ilworth is a story of London and Warwickshire in 1575, 
and The Fortunes of Nigel gives a good picture of London 
in 1604 — the year of ''Othello." Judith Shakespeare, by 
William Black, is a masterly tale of the EHzabethan 
period. Alfred Noyes' Tales of the Mermaid Tavern 
(Frederick A. Stokes Co.) is a series of imaginative stories 
written in beautiful poetry and dealing with men and 
events of Shakespeare's day. Another good book in 
the same field is Anne of Fever sham, by J. C. Snaith 
(Appleton's) . 

The great "Variorum" edition of Shakespeare's works, 
edited by H. H. Furness (J. B. Lippincott Co.), contains 
besides the plays and poems a collection of comment and 
criticism by all the great Shakespeare scholars for the 
last two hundred years. 



260 



EXPLANATORY NOTES 

Dramatis 1?e-rsonm = persons of the drama; the cast 

The list of Dramatis Personae is not found in the early edi- 
tions of the play; it was inserted in 1708. The Stage Direc- 
tions also were added by later editors. The division into acts 
and scenes was not made until 1676, when the acts were marked 
off ; the scenes following later. The Quartos have no such di- 
vision, and in the Folios it covers only Acts I and II. The tradi- 
tional arrangement is not accepted by some of the Shakespeare 
critics, who hold that it is unsuitable and suggest a rearrange- 
ment as follows : Acts I and V remain as they are ; Act II ends 
with the present III. i, and Act III with the present IV. 3. Such 
a plan, they say, would be thoroughly Shakespearian ; " each 
act has its unity — the first is filled by the Ghost, the second by 
Hamlet's assumed madness and the King's attempts to fathom 
it, the third by the doings of one tremendous night ; the fourth 
contains miscellaneous incidents, and the fifth ends all things." 
You will find it an interesting study to divide the play thus for 
yourself and see how far your judgment agrees with the opinion 
of the critics. 

ACT I 
Scene 1 

Elsinore. A platform before the castle. Elsinore was a Danish 
seaport on the island of Seeland. The scene takes place at the 
castle of Kronburg, which lies to the east of the town. 

The playwright must first put his audience in possession of 
such knowledge as is needed for a proper understanding of the 
situation at the opening of the play. Thus, we learn in the 
first scene of the death of the old King and his reappearance 
in arms to denote that " all is not well " ; of the danger of war 

261 



Notes. Act I, Scene 1. 



and the need of strong leadership in Denmark. The second 
scene shows the relation of Hamlet to the reigning monarch and 
indicates his state of mind. These " first scenes " in Shake- 
speare's plays form an interesting topic for study. In " The 
Merchant of Venice," for example, the opening words of An- 
tonio — " In sooth, I know not why I am so sad " — strike the 
keynote of the action and prepare us for what is to follow. 
"Julius Caesar" opens with the contention between^ the two ele- 
ments in Rome — the common people, who have turned out to 
cheer for Caesar, and the aristocrats, who are faithful to the 
memory of Pompey. "Macbeth" begins with thunder and 
lightning, a " blasted heath," and three horrible supernatural 
creatures who are concocting evil for the hero." " The Tempest " 
shows us storm and shipwreck and the play develops the results 
of the disaster. And so with the other plays ; in every case we 
find some suggestion in the opening scene which prepares us, or 
arouses our interest, or excites our sympathy, and thus makes a 
definite connection between audience and players at the earliest 
possible moment. 

Line 2. Nay, answer me : The pronoun is emphatic. Fran- 
cisco is on guard and has the right to challenge. Bernardo 
thereupon gives the password for the night : " Long live the 
King ! " unfold : disclose, reveal. 

6. upon your hour : at the appointed time. 

13. rivals : partners, sharers. The word originally meant 
those who lived by the same rivus, or stream, and had equal 
rights to use it for irrigation purposes. Hence there were fre- 
quent disputes, and hence the modern meaning of the word 
gradually developed. 

15. liegemen: followers, retainers. Dane: the King. 

16. Give you: God give you; an elliptical sentence. 
19. A piece of him : spoken jestingly. 

21. What, has this thing appeared? The Ghost has been a 
topic of conversation between the others, but Horatio does not 
believe in it. 

23. fantasy : imagination, fancy. 

262 



Act I, Scene 1. NotCS. 

29. approve : confirm, prove true. 

36. yond : yonder, pole : the North Star. 

37. illume : light up, illuminate. 
39. beating : striking, tolling. 

41. figure : form, appearance. 

42. scholar : It was the medieval belief that ghosts could 
be " exorcised," or driven away, by certain prayers recited in 
Latin. Hence Horatio, the educated man, was best fitted to 
deal with evil spirits. 

44. harrows : a strong word, meaning to move greatly, to 
horrify. See I. 5. 16. Note the sudden change in the feelings 
of Horatio. 

45. It would be spoke to : it wishes to be spoken to. 

46. usurp'st means " usest without right." The Ghost has 
taken for wrong usage both the night and the form of the King. 

48. the majesty of buried Demnark: the King who has re- 
cently died. Denmark : the king of Denmark, a form common 
throughout the play. 

53. How now, Horatio! Bernardo is triumphant at proving 
himself right. 

55. on't : of it. 

57. sensible and true avouch : proved by the evidence of my 
senses. Avouch means " proof." Note the complete change 
in Horatio. 

62. parle : conference, parley. 

63. sledded Polacks : the Poles, who were traveling in 
sledges. This expression has been interpreted in several differ- 
ent ways. The word " polack " is still used in some parts of 
the Eastern States. 

65. jump : exactly, precisely. 

66. stalk: stride. 

67. In what particular . . . state : " What special line of 
thought to follow, I don't know ; but, speaking generally, I 
should say that this foretells some evil thing for Denmark." 
bode : foretell, eruption : political upheaval. 

71. observant: close. 

72. toils : makes to toil, burdens. Used transitively. 



263 



Notes. Act I, Scene 1. 

74. mart: traffic, marketing. 
' 75. impress : forced labor, impressment, sore : heavy, bur- 
densome. 

77. toward : threatening, at hand. 

80. whisper : rumor, report. 

83. pricked on: incited, urged on. emulate: jealous, emulous. 

86. sealed compact : secret treaty. 

87. Well ratified by law and heraldry : sanctioned both by 
common law and by the laws of- arms. 

89. seized of : possessed of. 

90. a moiety competent . . . vanquisher: " An equal por- 
tion was pledged by our king, which Fortinbras would have won 
had he been victorious." 

93. covenant: agreement. 

94. carriage of the article : meaning, or tenor, of the articles 
of agreement. 

96. unimproved mettle : unused energy, or untested courage. 

97. skirts : borders, outskirts. 

98. sharked up . . . diet: " gathered at random a body of 
desperadoes, for no pay but their keep." Note the vigor of 
*' sharked up " — scooped up anyhow, like a shark feeding. 

100. stomach : courage, resolution. " Gives an opportu- 
nity for courage." 

103. compulsatory : compulsory, compelling. 

106. head : cause. 

107. romage : turmoil, bustle. 

109. Well may it sort : it is very appropriate, portentous : 
ominous. 

111. question : cause. 

112. mote : speck, atom. 

113. palmy : flourishing, glorious. 

114. Julius : Shakespeare's play of " Julius Caesar " was 
written just before " Hamlet." In this play, as in " Hamlet," 
dire warnings appear of coming events. See II. 2. 19-24 : 

Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds, 
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, 
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol ; 

264 



Act I, Scene 1. NoteS. 

The noise of battle hurtled in the air, 
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan. 
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the. streets. 
115. sheeted : new-risen from the dead and clad in grave- 
clothes, gibber : gabble, chatter. 

117. As stars with trains of fire : Something seems to be 
omitted between this phrase and the preceding sentence. Sup- 
ply : " Such things were seen as." 

118. Disasters in the sun : An eclipse of the sun was sup- 
posed to foretell dangerous times. The word " disaster " is 
derived from the Greek word for " star " and is a survival from 
the ancient science of astrology, which dealt with the supposed 
influence of the stars upon human life and mundane affairs.- 
We still speak of an " ill-starred ship," or of a man being born 
" under a lucky star." The references to astrology throughout 
English literature are innumerable. Here is an interesting ex- 
ample from Milton's " Paradise Lost " : 

the sun new ris'n 
Looks through the horizontal misty air 
Shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon 
In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds 
On half the nations, and with fear of change 
Perplexes monarchs. 

Book L 594-599. 
the moist star : the moon, which influences the tides. 

119. Neptune's empire : the sea. 

120. Was sick almost to doomsday: had lost its light as if 
the end of the world had come. 

121. precurse : forewarning, fierce : terrible, fearful. 

122. harbingers : messengers, forerunners. Literally, offi- 
cers sent ahead of the king to arrange for lodgings for the royal 
party, still : always, constantly. 

123. prologue : The Prologue was an actor who appeared on 
the stage to announce the general meaning of the play, omen : 
fatal event. 

125. climatures : regions, country. 

126. Soft : Hush ! A common expletive in the plays. 

265 



Notes Act I, Scene 1. 

127. I '11 cross it, though it blast me : To " cross " a specter, 
or to pass over the spot where it had been seen, was to put your- 
self in great danger, as the spirit would then have power over 
you. Blast: destroy. 

131. to thee do ease and grace to me : " that may help thee and 
win me favor." 

133. art privy to: hast secret knowledge of. 

134. happily : perchance, haply, foreknowing : foreknowl- 
edge, prescience. 

136. if thou hast uphoarded, etc. : Note the three questions 
asked by Horatio. Is there some good deed to be done ? Canst 
thou prophesy some danger to Denmark ? Or dost thou wish to 
reveal buried treasure ? 

140. partisan : a long spear, a halberd. 

143. majestical : stately, majestic. 

146. malicious mockery : evil jesting. 

150. the cock : It was an old superstition that no spirit could 
wander abroad after cock-crow. 

152. god of day : the sun. 

154. extravagant and erring spirit : extravagant, roaming 
beyond, his proper boundaries as set in " sea or fire, in earth or 
air"; erring, wandering about. Note the changes in the 
modern usage of these words. 

155. confine : appointed place. 

156. made probation : made proof, was a proof. 

157-164. Marcellus tells one of the common superstitions of 
the time. 

158. 'gainst: equivalent to "in preparation for." The 
word is still used in some country districts in England : " Keep 
the dinner hot 'gainst father comes home." 
160. bird of dawning : the cock. 

162. The nights are wholesome : The Elizabethans did not 
think the night air was healthful. In " Julius Caesar " Portia 
says to Brutus : 

Is Brutus sick. 
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, 
To dare the wild contagion of the night, 

266 



Act I, Scene 1. NoteS. 

And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air 

To add unto his sickness ? 
strike : destroy by their influence. Another reference to 
astrology. We still use the expression " moon-struck " ; 
and " lunatic " means, literally, one who has been injured by 
the influence of the moon. Other words with a similar history 
are : jovial, saturnine, mercurial, martial. 

163. takes : infects with disease, charm : in an evil sense. 

164. gracious: benign, full of blessings. 

165. in part believe it : Horatius, as an educated man, does 
not altogether agree with his friend's superstition. 

166-167. A well-known and beautiful passage. "Russet" 
means gray; it is dawn, not sunrise. 

173. loves : The word is frequently used by Shakepeare to 
mean strong friendship between man and man. Hence, in 
" Julius Caesar " : 

Your friend and lover, Brutus, 
in " The Merchant of Venice " : 

Bid her be judge 
Whether Bassanio had not once a love. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What do we learn in this scene about Hamlet? About 
the King? 

2. Can you indicate any differences in the characters of the 
three soldiers Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo? 

3. Why does Horatio know more than the others about the 
condition of affairs in Denmark ? 

4. Was Horatio one of the regular sentries ? 

5. What is the purpose of bringing him in to see the Ghost? 

6. Do you note any difference in the conversation between 
the three men before and after the appearance of the Ghost? 

7. Make a stage setting of this scene, arranging for the move- 
ments of the various characters. 



267 



Notes. Act I, Scene 2. 

8. What supernatural beliefs do you find touched upon by 
the speakers? 

9. " Break we our watch up." Had Horatio the right to 
give such an order? 

10. Why does the Ghost enter twice? 

ACT I 
Scene 2 

We gain from this scene a very clear idea of Hamlet's mental 
state at the opening of the play. He has no notion of his uncle's 
guilt, but he dislikes him extremely and he feels very bitter 
about his mother's hasty marriage. Yet he, cannot speak — 
what, indeed, can he say? Hence " all the uses of this world " 
seem to him " flat, stale and unprofitable." One gleam of hap- 
piness comes in the appearance of his best friend, Horatio ; but 
the news that Horatio brings fills him with dismay. 

Claudius makes a dignified speech to his assembled courtiers, 
but the hypocritical nature of the man soon shows forth in his 
conversation with Hamlet. He acts wisely as a ruler and takes 
with decision the necessary steps against Norway. We can 
understand how the Council chose him to be King. 

Enter the King. The scene usually begins, on the modern 
stage, with a procession of state, in which Hamlet walks slowly, 
dressed in black. He is a somber figure among the brilliant 
court costumes. 

2. that : though, it us befitted : it was suitable for us. The 
king uses the royal " we." 

5. discretion : the sense of what was owing to the Court. 

8. sister : brother's wife, sister-in-law. 

9. jointress : sharer. 

10. defeated: marred, disfigured. 

13. dole : sorrow, grief. 

14. barred : failed to consult. 

17. that you know: that which you know; or, as you know. 

268 



Act I, Scene 2. Notes. 



18. weak supposal : poor opinion. 

19. by : because of. 

21. colleagued with the dream of his advantage : " fancy- 
ing, also, that he sees a chance to take advantage of us." 

23. importing : demanding, importuning. 

24. bonds of law: legal formalities. See scene i, lines 86-88. 
31. gait : proceeding, advance. 

31-32. levies, lists, proportions : legal authority, muster rolls, 
contingents. 

33. out of his subject : from his (Norway's) subjects, and 
without his personal knowledge. 

38. the scope of these delated articles : The King warns his 
envoys not to exceed the powers conferred on them by the ar- 
ticles here set out in full. " Allow " is attracted into the plural 
by the word which immediately precedes it. 

43. suit : request, favor. 

44. of reason : anything in reason. Dane; Seel. i. 15. 

45. lose your voice : speak in vain. The King now changes 
to " thou " as a mark of familiarity. 

47. native : kindred, related. 

49. thy father : old Polonius, who seems to have been instru- 
mental in securing the throne for the present King. 

50. My dread lord : a form of greeting. 

51. leave and favor : your kind permission. 

66. pardon : leave to depart. 

62-63. " Choose your own time to depart; spend it as you 
will to your best advantage." 

65. A little more than kin and less than kind: Hamlet's 
muttered comment, upon the hypocritical King's " my cousin 
and my son." The passage is difficult to interpret, but it may^ 
be taken to mean : " Yes, I am more than mere kin to you, 
but less than kind (because I hate you)." " I am a little more 
than kin to you (since you married my mother), but I am not 
your kind. " Can you explain why Hamlet's first remark should 
be an " aside " ? 

67. too much i' the sun : a bitter play upon the " son " just 
made use of by the King. 

269 



Notes. Act I, Scene 2. 

68. nighted color : a reference to the black clothes of Hamlet. 
70. vailed lids : downcast eyes. Vail means " lower," as in 
" The Merchant of Venice " : 

Vailing her high top lower than her ribs, 
To kiss her burial. 

74. it is common: Why does he repeat his mother's word? 
How would you read his answer ? 

76. particular: special. 

76. Seems, madam! Hamlet bursts forth in a protest against 
his mother's well-meant suggestion that he should forget his sor- 
row. 

78. customary : according to custom. 

79. windy suspiration of forced breath : heavy sighs. 
81. 'havior of the visage : appearance of the face. 
83. denote : picture, portray. 

85. But I have that within which passeth show: Compare 
with this the passage in V. 2. 205-206 : 

But thou wouldst not think how ill all 's here about my heart. 

passeth : surpasses. 

90. That father lost, lost his : that father who died, lost his 
father also. 

91. term : space of time. 

92. obsequious: fitting, dutiful; with reference to "obse- 
quies," funeral observances. 

93. condolement : sorrow, grief. 

95. a will most incorrect to heaven : a will not properly sub- 
missive to the decrees of heaven. 

97. sunple : silly, weak. 

98-99. as common As any the most vulgar thing to sense : as 
usual as anything which is a matter of common experience. 

103. whose common theme: The antecedent of "whose" 
is " reason." 

107. unprevailing : useless, unavailing. 

109. most immediate : nearest. 

110. nobility : high degree. 

270 



Act I, Scene 2. NotCS. 



112. impart: give all I can bestow. For your intent: as re- 
gards your purpose. 

113. to school in Wittemberg : The famous University of 
Wittemberg was founded in 1502. Did Hamlet leave his studies 
there when his father died? Horatio was one of his fellow 
students, and we shall meet two others later on — Rosencrantz 
and Guildenstern. 

114. retrograde : contrary. 

115. bend you : make up your mind. 

120. Hamlet replies to his mother, not to the King. 

123. gentle and unforced accord : polite and willing assent. 

124. grace : honor. 

125-128. Dr. Samuel Johnson says of this passage : " The 
king's intemperance is very strongly impressed ; everything 
that happens to him gives him occasion to drink." 

125. jocund : merry, joyous. 

127. rouse : deep draught, bruit : report noisily. 

129-158. The cause of Hamlet's grief and anger is revealed 
in this speech. The broken language throughout shows strong 
emotion. 

130. resolve : dissolve. 

132. canon : divine law. 

137. merely: completely, absolutely. Hamlet's melancholy 
inclines him to make out as black a picture as possible. 

140. Hyperion to a satyr : Hyperion was Apollo, the sun- 
god and a type of manly beauty ; a satyr was a type of deformity, 

141. beteem: allow, permit 

149. Niobe : " Daughter of Tantalus, whose children were 
slain by Apollo and Artemis, while she herself was turned into 
stone upon Mount Sisyphus in Lydia, where she weeps through 
the summer months." 

150. wants discourse of reason: lacks the reasoning faculty. 

154. most unrighteous because most insincere. 

155. had left the flushing : had ceased to produce redness. 
galled : sore with weeping. In " Twelfth Night," Shakespeare 
speaks of " eye-offending brine," 

158, I must hold my tongue : Why? 

271 



Notes. Act I, Scene 2. 

160-167. Note the courtesy of Hamlet's greeting to the three 
newcomers. His own troubles are laid aside in this courteous 
interchange. As the scene goes on, however, his manner changes 
to an agonized interest in the dreadful tale that Horatio tells 
him. 

162. I '11 change that name with you : "I '11 be your servant, 
and you shall be my friend." 

163. what make you : what are you doing. 

166. Good even, sir : evidently spoken to Bernardo. 
168. truant : roving, wandering. 
171. truster : believer. 

173. Elsinore : the residence of the Danish kings. It lies 
about fifty miles north of Copenhagen. 

178. it followed hard upon : it came very soon afterwards. 

179. funeral baked meats: It was customary to make a 
feast at a funeral. The remark is satirical : Hamlet resumes 
his bitterness. 

180. furnish forth : serve for. 

181. dearest foe :• Shakespeare uses " dear " of anything that 
touches the emotions deeply. 

189-190. These lines have an intense emotional force. 

191. Season your admiration : restrain your astonishment. 

192. attent : attentive, deliver : tell, narrate. 
197. vast : void, waste. 

199. at point exactly : at all points, cap-a-pe : from head to 
foot. 

203. truncheon : baton, staff of ofl&ce. 

206. impart they did : an inversion to give solemnity to the 
tale. 

217. morning cock: Seel. i. 147. 

229. beaver : the front part of the helmet, used to protect 
the face. 

234. constantly : steadily, firmly. 

237. tell: count. 

242. warrant : guarantee. 

247. Let it be tenable in your silence still : regard it as a se- 
cret which ought to be kept. 

272 



Act I, Scene 3. NoteS. 

248. hap : happen, occur. 

250. requite : repay. 

253. Your loves, as mine to you: "Hamlet- courteously dis- 
claims the rank of master and requests them to regard him as an 
equal and friend." 

255. doubt : suspect, fear. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Write out the meaning of the King's speech in your own 
words. 

2. Do you gain any indications as to the character of the 
King from his utterances in this scene ? 

3. What is the cause, as far as you can determine at present, 
of Hamlet's sadness? 

4. Read aloud, with two of your classmates, the lines from 
i6o to the end of the scene. Be sure that you understand what 
is said and then see how far you can adapt the intonations of 
your voice to the significance of the lines. Note especially such 
passages as 188-194, 220, 223-225, 229-236. 

5. Why does Hamlet ask his friends to speak to no one else 
about the Ghost? 

ACT I 

Scene 3 

This scene is intended to give us some idea of the types that 
we shall find at Court. Polonius is a fussy politician who is 
verging on old age, his mind stored with trite sayings. Like 
the Justice in "As You Like It," he is 

Full of wise saws and modern instances, 
which he can readily bestow on others, but which he does not 
especially observe himself. Laertes is a " gilded youth" of the 
day. He is what in Shakespeare's time was called " Italianate," 
which means that he has a pretty extensive experience of the 
" seamy side " of life. In his own fashion, he loves his sister; 

273 



Notes. Act I, Scene 3. 



but his affection does not in any way interfere with plans for 
his own enjoyment. He has come to Elsinore to attend the 
funeral of the late king ; now he is anxious to return as soon as 
possible to the delights of Paris. Ophelia is a charming and 
pathetic figure. As we meet her in this scene, we find that she 
is submissive, perhaps weak; certainly no fit mate for Hamlet. 
It is plain enough that Polonius and Laertes have no faith in the 
purity and honor of Hamlet, nor of Ophelia herself. Their 
point of view is cynical and worldly wise. 

3. convoy: means of conveyance — " as you find the oppor- 
tunity to send your letters." 

5. trifling of his favor : the slight attention which he has paid 
you. 

6. a toy in blood : a passing fancy. 

7. primy: spring-like. 

9. suppliance : amusement, dalliance. 

11. crescent: growing. 

12. this temple : the human body. " As the body grows, 
the abilities of the mind (inward service) increase equally." 
The metaphor comes from St. John II. 21. 

15. cautel : deceit. 

16. the virtue of his will : his virtuous intention. The whole 
passage means: " He cannot, like low-born persons, choose for 
himself whom he will wed, for the welfare of the country de- 
pends upon his choice; therefore he must consider the needs of 
the state in making his decision." 

25. It fits your wisdom : " you must believe his promises 
only so far as his position allows him to fulfill them." 
28. main voice : general opinion. 
30. credfent : credulous, believing. 

39. canker: canker-worm. 

40. buttons : buds. 

42. contagious blastments : blighting influences. 

46. But, good my brother : Ophelia is ready enough to^ ac- 
cept the advice of Laertes, but she thinks that he ou^^ to^be 
consistent and lead a decent life himself. ^ ' 

274 



Act I, Scene 3. NoteS. 



47. ungracious: graceless. 

49. puffed : bloated — through self-indulgence. 

50. the primrose path of dalliance treads : enjoys all the 
pleasures of dissipation. A famous passage in " Macbeth " 
runs : " I had thought to let in some of all professions, that go 
the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire." 

51. recks not his own rede : pays no attention to his own ad- 
vice. O, fear me not : " Don't worry on my account." Laertes 
is a little impatient at his sister's suggestion ; he is ready to give 
advice rather than to take it. It is amusing, therefore-, to see 
him forced to listen to a sermon from his father. 

54. occasion : opportunity. 

59-80. The well-known advice of Polonius to Laertes is too 
formal and precise to seem spontaneous. It is quite possible 
that the public of Shakespeare's day recognized the speech as 
being commonplace and conventional, and therefore in keeping 
with the character of the man whom Hamlet later in the play 
calls a tedious old fool (see II. 2. 217). At the same time, the 
advice is sound. Polonius was not altogether a fool, even if he 
was tiresome. 

59. character : write, imprint. Accent on second syllable. 

60. unproportioned : unsuitable. 

61. vulgar: common. 

62. adoption tried : choice tested. 

64. dull thy palm : make thy hand callous by shaking hands 
with every one. 

67. opposed: opponent. 

69. censure : opinion. 

74. select and generous : show the best taste. 

77. husbandry: economy, thrift. 

81. season : ripen, cause thee to take it to heart. 

83. tend: wait. 

90. Marry: a mild expletive, common in Shakespeare's day. 
bethought : thought of. 

94. so 't is put on me : so it has been impressed on me. 

97. it behoves : it is fitting for. 

99. tenders : promises. 

27s 



Notes. Act I, Scene 3. 



101. green : inexperienced. 

102. unsifted : untried. 

107. sterling : sound currency, tender : regard, have a care 
for. 

109. Running it thus : overworking the play upon the word 
"tender." tender: show. 

112. go to : an expression of contempt, or impatience. 

115. springes : snares. The woodcock was supposed to be 
brainless, and hence easily caught. 

116. prodigal : adjective for adverb. 

122. entreatments : solicitations, conversation. 

125. a larger tether : he has more freedom. 

126. in few : in short. 

127. brokers : go-betweens, negotiators. 

128. investments : garments, vestments. 

129. implorators : solicitors, implorers. 

130. This is for all : once for all. 
132. slander : abuse, disgrace. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Why does Laertes warn his sister against Hamlet? 

2. For on his choice depends 

The safety and the health of this whole state. 
What does Laertes mean ? Is his argument sound ? Would 
the same words apply to an heir-apparent at the present day? 

3. Why does Laertes go to Paris by sea, rather than over- 
land? 

4. The advice of Polonius to his son has been called " a set 
of copybook maxims." Do you agree with this statement? 
Does Polonius suggest to Laertes morality, or merely self-pro- 
tection? Do the closing lines (78-80) seem to you to be in keep- 
ing with the rest of the speech? 

5. How does Polonius' opinion of Hamlet differ from that 
held by Laertes ? 

. 6. What do you think of Ophelia, as judged by her speeches 
in this scene ? 

276 



Act I, Scene 4. ■ Notes. 

ACT I 

Scene 4 

Scenes 4 and 5 are practically continuous. In them the final 
elements of the problem which Hamlet has to face are placed 
plainly before us. How will he meet the situation? He be- 
lieves the Ghost and is eager to revenge — at first ; but almost 
immediately he begins to hesitate. He plans to simulate mad- 
ness, in order to gain time : presently we shall see him, by the 
device of the Play, testing the truth of what he has heard. Per- 
haps the closing words of the Act give the keynote to his char- 
acter as we are to understand it : 

The time is out of joint. O, cursed spite • 

That ever I was born to set it right ! 

1. shrewdly : keenly, piercingly. 

2. eager : sharp. 

6. held his wont : was accustomed. 
ordnance: cannon. 

8. wake : bold revel. 

9. wassail : carousal, drinking-bout, swaggering upspring : 
a wild dance. 

10. Rhenish : red wine. 

11. bray out The triumph of his pledge: bitterly ironical, as 
shown by the use of the word " bray." 

15-16. One of the " familiar quotations " of which " Hamlet " 
contains so many. " It would be more to our honor to break 
off this custom than to observe it." What the custom was may 
be seen by an account given by an English traveler in Denmark, 
near the date of the play : " The king (Christian IV, who reigned 
from 1588— 1649) feasted my lord once, and it lasted from eleven 
of the clock till towards morning; during which time the king 
began thirty-five healths. . . . The king was taken away at 
last in his chair." 

18. traduced and taxed : blamed and censured. 

19. clepe : call, name. 

277 



Notes, Act I, Scene 4. 

20. addition: title. 

21. at height: to the utmost. 

22. " The best and most valuable part of the praise that 
would otherwise be attributed to us." 

24. mole of nature : natural blemish. 

27. complexion : temperament, natural disposition. 

28. pales and forts of reason : the strongholds of the intel- 
lect. 

30. plausive : pleasing, popular. 

32. nature's livery, or fortune's star : a defeat which is due 
either to nature or accidental misfortune. 

34. undergo : sustain, support. *' As many as can be ac- 
cumulated upon man." 

35. general censure : the general opinion, the final public 
estimate. 

36-37. the dram . . . scandal : a passage which has been 
widely discussed. The general meaning is clear : a man's vir- 
tues, be they as pure as grace, shall in the general judgment 
take corruption from one particular fault, even as the "dram 
of eale" reduces all the good stuff it is mixed with to its own 
low level. But the exact interpretation had best be left to the 
critics. 

The value of the desultory conversation, up to this point, is 
its truth to life. Here are three men under a great strain. In 
such circumstances they will talk of anything rather than the 
danger before them. Hence the shock of the Ghost's entrance. 
Upon the casual remarks of the watchers suddenly impinges the 
tremendous personality from beyond the grave. 

39. Angels and ministers of grace defend us ! The tradi- 
tional stage usage makes a pause after these words, allowing 
Hamlet to recover himself before addressing the Ghost. 

40. spirit of health : a healed, or saved, spirit. In antithesis 
to " goblin damned." 

42. intents : intentions, purposes. 

43. questionable : inviting question, or conversation. 

47. canonized : sacredly buried, interred with the rites of 
the church, hearsed : entombed, coflSined. 

278 



Act I, Scene 4. NotCS. 

48. cerements : grave-clothes. 

49. inumed : entombed, placed in the sepulcher. 

53. the glimpses of the moon : the glimmering light of the 
moon, struggling through the clouds. 

54. we fools of nature : playthings of nature. We make 
sport for nature, who mocks us \vhen we try to pry into her 
mysteries. 

55. disposition: mood. 

59. impartment : communication. 
61. removed : secluded, remote. 
65. a pin's fee : a pin's worth. 
71. beetles : projects, juts over. 

73. sovereignty of reason: the command of your reason; or, 
the control which reason exercises over a sound mind. 
75. toys of desperation : freaks of madness. 

81. Be ruled : listen to reason. 

82. artery : ligament. 

83. Nemean lion : one of the monsters slain by Hercules, 
nerve : muscle, sinew. 

85. lets me : hinders me. 
87. imagination : fancy. 
89. Have after : let us go after him. 

91. it: the issue. Nay : " Let us not leave it to heaven, but 
do something ourselves." 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What opportunities are afforded in this scene for impres- 
sive stage setting? Make a list of remarks or words in the 
course of the conversation which would serve as suggestions for 
constructing scenery. 

2. " The air bites shrewdly." What is the time of year ? 

3. Write out the exact meaning of lines 23-38. Do you 
think Hamlet's view is correct? 

4. What danger does Horatio see for Hamlet in following the 
Ghost? 



279 



Notes. Act I, Scene 5. 

ACT I 

Scene 5 

I. I '11 go no further : It is to be supposed that the Ghost has 
led Hamlet to a distance. Some time elapses before his com- 
rades find him. 

6. bound : ready, prepared ; or, obliged. 

II. fast in fires : referring to the punishment of sinners in 
Purgatory. 

12. days of nature : lifetime. 

18. knotted : interwoven. 

19. an end : on end. 

20. porpentine : porcupine. 

21. eternal blazon : revelation of the secrets of eternity. 
31. apt : quick, ready. 

32-33. the fat weed That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf. 
Lethe was the river of forgetfulness in . the lower world, and 
those who drank of it became oblivious of everything. A weed 
growing on Lethe bank (wharf) and soaked in Lethe water all 
the time would therefore be the very type and symbol of dull 
forgetfulness. 

37. forged process : false statement. 

38. rankly : grossly. 

40. O my prophetic soul ! Hamlet has already had some 
inkling of the truth. 

50. decline upon : sink down to. 

52. to : compared to. 

56. sate : satisfy. 

61. secure : careless, unsuspicious. 

62. hebenan: a deadly poison, possibly henbane. 

68. sudden vigor : rapid and violent action, posset : curdle. 

69. eager : sour, acid. 

71. tetter : a diseased thickening of the skin. 

75. dispatched : deprived. 

77. Unhouseled : without having received the last Sacra- 
ment, disappointed : unprepared for death, unaneled : not 
having received extreme unction — the last rite for the dying. 

280 



Act I, Scene 5, NotCS. 



81. nature: natural affection. 

83. Taint not thy mind : " keep thy motives pure, unmixed 
with thoughts of mere revenge." contrive : plot, plan. 

87. matin : morning. 

88. uneffectual : ineffectual, lost in the light of morning. 

91. couple hell : call on hell also. 

92. instant : instantly, at once. 

93. stiffly: strongly. 

95. distracted globe : Hamlet puts his hands to his head. 

96. table: tablet. 

97. fond: foolish. 

98. saws : sayings, maxims, pressures : past impressions. 

104. smiling: Hamlet remembers his uncle's smile as he 
called him " our son." 

105. tables : writing-tablets, memorandum-book, meet : fit- 
ting. Why should Hamlet "write it down"? Is it not that 
his mind is almost unhinged ; that this feverish action shows 
he scarcely knows what he is doing ? Note carefully his atti- 
tude towards Horatio and Marcellus during the rest of the 
scene; the former remonstrates with him for his "wild and 
whirling words." The whole conversation brings out strongly 
the terrible effect of the Ghost's communication. Hamlet is 
unstrung ; his laughter is hysterical, and it is not until the 
end of the scene that he shows som-e return to self-control in 
the courteous: " Nay, come, let 's go together." 

112. secure : guard. 

113. Hillo ! a falconer's cry to recall his hawks. 
119. once : ever. 

125. circumstance : detail, circumlocution. 

130. I '11 go pray : a touch of deep pathos. 

143. Nay, but swear 't : Hamlet binds his friends to secrecy 
in order that nothing will be revealed which may tend to check 
his plans for revenge. 

146. upon my sword : because the hilt of a sword was in the 
form of a cross. 

148. truepenny : honest fellow. 

154. hie et ubique? here and everywhere? 

281 



Notes. Act I, Scene 5. 

161. pioner : a pioneer (as we spell it to-day) was a soldier 
who did the digging of trenches, mines, and so forth. 

163. " And therefore receive it without doubt or question." 

165. your philosophy: "Your" is colloquial. Compare 
" Antony and Cleopatra," II. 7. 29 : " Your serpent of Egypt 
is bred, now, of your mud by the operation of your sun, so is 
your crocodile." 

170. antic : fantastic, disguised. Hamlet deliberately planned 
to act madness, in order to hide his real purposes. 

172. encumbered : folded. Sir Henry Irving illustrated 
the idea, however, by taking an arm of Horatio and Marcellus 
as if about to gossip with them. 

176. ambiguous giving out : doubtful indication. 

184. friending : friendliness. 

185. lack: be wanting. 

189. Nay, come, let 's go together: Hamlet wishes to count 
them as friends and equals, not as inferiors. As they stand 
aside to let him go first, he motions them to join him. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. My hour is almost come. 
When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames 
Must render up myself. 

What do these lines mean ? 

2. Line 80 has been assigned by some critics to Hamlet. 
Can you give any reasons why this should be done? 

3. What is the immediate effect upon Hamlet of the Ghost's 
revelations? Make an analysis of his feelings as shown by his 
speeches during the rest of the scene. 

4. Read aloud the passage 124-130, trying to interpret the 
feelings of the speaker. 

5. Why does Hamlet ask his friends to swear secrecy? 

6. Can you give any dramatic reason for the Ghost speak- 
ing " beneath "? 

7. Comment upon the significance of hues 187-188. 

8. What length of time is covered by the First Act ? 

282 



Act II, Scene 1. NotCS. 



ACT n 

Scene 1 

The important part of the first scene is the behavior of Hamlet 
towards Opheha. This leads Polonius to tell the King that he is 
mad. To the audience it is clear that Hamlet has gone to Ophelia 
hoping for sympathy and help, but has found her too weak to aid 
him in his trouble. The fussiness of Polonius and his low stand- 
ards of morality are well shown in his directions to Reynaldo ; his 
age is suggested by his lapse of memory. 

4. inquire : inquiry. 

7. Danskers : Danes. 

8. keep : lodge, dwell. 

10. by this encompassment and drift of question : by such 
round-about methods, encompassment and drift : scope and 
tendency. 

11. more nearer : the use of the double comparative, or double 
negative, is common in Elizabethan English. 

11-12. " You will approach indirectly nearer to your object 
than you could by direct and special questions." 

19. put on him : attribute to him. 

20. forgeries : inventions, false tales, rank : gross, wicked. 
22-24. wild and usual slips . . . liberty : such dissipations as 

are natural to young men left to themselves. 
28. season : qualify. 

31. quaintly: artfully, skillfully. 

32. taints of liberty : stains, blemishes of freedom. 

34. unreclaimed blood : untamed passions. 

35. Of general assault : such as attack all men. 

38. a fetch of warrant : a justifiable stratagem. 

39. sullies : blemishes. 

42. converse : conversation. 

43. prenominate : aforesaid. 

45. closes with you in this consequence : agrees with you in 
this way. 

283 . 



Notes. ' Act II, Scene 1. 

50. By the mass ! Polonius here shows the weakness of age, 
in forgetting what he was going to say. 

58. O'er took in 's rouse : overcome by drink. 

61. of reach : far-sighted. 

62. windlasses : winding and circuitous ways, indirect at- 
tempts, assays of bias : a metaphor from the game of bowls, in 
which one does not aim at the Jack directly, but in a curve so that 
the bias brings the ball round. 

63. by indirections : by indirect methods. Polonius, like all 
schemers, prefers the dark and devious way to the straight path 
of truth. 

65. You have me : you understand me, " you get me ?" 
68. Observe his inclination in yourself : find out his tendencies 
by personal observation. 

70. Let him ply his music : let him go his own way. 

74. closet : private apartment. 

75. unbraced: unfastened. 

77. down-gyved to his ancle : his stockings so low about his 
ankle that they reminded Ophelia of the fetters of criminals. 

81. he comes before me : Hamlet turns to Ophelia, whom he 
loves, for comfort and help ; but he soon finds that she is not strong 
enough to give him the spiritual assistance he needs. 

87. perusal: examination. 

99. ecstasy: frenzy. 

100. property : quality. fordoes : destroys. The prefix 
"for" has a negative sense, as in forget, forbear, forbid; or an 
intensive significance as in forwearied, forgive, forsake. Note, 
however, the " fore " verbs, like forecast, foretell, foresee, forestall. 

107. access : approach. 

109. quoted : observed, noted. 

110. beshrew : a mild oath. 

111. proper to : characteristic of, appropriate to. 

112. to cast beyond ourselves : to be oversuspicious. 

The vice of old age is too much suspicion. 
116. An obscure passage. The sense seems to be : " Ham- 
let's mad conduct might cause more grief if we hide it than it can 
create hatred if we tell it." 

284 



Act II, Scene 2. - Notes. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Why does Polonius send Reynaldo to Paris ? 

2. Select three or four passages which seem to show the charac- 
ter of Polonius. 

3. From your reading of the play -go far, what reasons can you 
give for the visit of Hamlet to Ophelia and his behavior to her ? 

4. What change takes place in the feelings of Polonius towards 
Hamlet ? Why ? 

ACT II 

Scene 2 

In this scene Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two old friends of 
Hamlet, are sent by the King to spy upon him. It does not take 
him long to see through their plan, and there is much pathos in his 
discovery of the double part played by the fellow students whom 
he thought he could trust (see lines 265-287). The coming of 
the Players suggests to him a method of testing the truth of what 
the Ghost told him. For the rest, we have a sort of summary of 
Hamlet's mental condition ; the madness which he so easily as- 
sumes, the bitter irony against his enemies and his invective 
against the world in general. 

2. Moreover that : besides that. 

6. sith nor : since neither. 

7. that : that which. 

7-10. " I cannot imagine what it is, except the death of his 
father, that has so shaken his self-control." 

11. of so young days : from so early youth. 

12. so neighbored to his youth and humor : so closely in touch 
with his age and disposition. 

13. vouchsafe your rest : do us the favor of staying. 

16. occasion: opportunity. 

17. opened : revealed. 

19. he hath much talked of you: a touch of pathos. Two 
friends, whom Hamlet has always liked and trusted, are made to 

28s 



Notes. Act II, Scene 2. 

act as spies. The fact that they consent so readily shows that 
they are unworthy of his friendship. 

22. gentry: courtesy. 

23. expend: spend. 

24. supply and profit : fulfillment and advancement. 
27. of: over. 

30. bent: inclination. 

34. Note the interchange of names. It is a pretty clear indi- 
cation that the men are conventional and commonplace. 

38. practises : ideas, plans. 

40-45. The cordial greeting of the King, and the effusive loyalty 
of Polonius, seem to show that there is some secret between them 
— that each depends upon the other, 

41. still: constantly. 

47. trail of policy : conduct of public affairs. 

52. fruit: dessert. 

53. do grace : do honor. 

55. distemper: disorder. 

56. main : main cause, chief point. 

58. sift : get the truth out of him. 

59. our brother Norway : the formality of etiquette. 
61. Upon our first : upon our first request. 

66. impotence : lack of power. 

67. falsely borne in hand : deceived, arrests : legal restraints. 
71. To give the assay of arms : to put the matter to the test 

of war. 

73. fee: value. 
77. pass: passage. 

79. regards of safety and allowance : terms securing the safety 
of the country and regulating the passage of troops. 

80. It likes us well : it pleases us well. 

81. on more considered time : when we shall have had time to 
consider the matter more carefully. 

83. well-took: well-handled. 

85. This business is well ended : Polonius thinks he has solved 
the whole question of Hamlet's madness and is full of his subject. 
He talks all round the point and is sharply rebuked by the Queen 

286 



Act II, Scene 2. NoteS. 



for his prolixity. The whole conversation contained in lines 85 to 167 
is a masterly portrayal of senile decay, and will repay careful study. 
86. expostulate : discussfully. 

90. brevity is the soul of wit: wit is "knowledge," "under- 
standing." Polonius here unconsciously condemns himself. 

91, flourishes : ornaments, decorations. 

95. More matter, with less art : come to the point. 

98. figure : figure of speech. 

105. perpend : consider. 

110-124. The letter is probably an ordinary love-letter of the 
time : such stilted language was not uncommon in the affecta- 
tions of the Elizabethan age. 

110. beautified: a fantastic variant for "beautiful." Polonius crit- 
icizes the word in order to appear as a connoisseur of literary taste. 

120. I am ill at these numbers : I cannot write good poetry. 

123. whilst this machine is to him: while this physical ma- 
chine, his body, keeps on going. 

126. more above : moreover. 

136. " If I had kept their secret as closely as a desk or note- 
book keeps letters." 

137. given my heart a winking : made my heart shut its eyes. 

138. with idle sight : with an indifferent eye. 

139. round : direct, straightforward. 

140. bespeak: address. 

141. out of thy star : outside of thy sphere, or walk in life. 
145-151. The irony of the situation lies in the fact that the old 

politician thinks he has cleared up the whole matter through his 
own sagacity, and is able even to map out the progress of the dis- 
ease, when Hamlet all the while had been only pretending madness. 

147. fast : abstention from food. 

148. watch : loss of sleep. 

149. lightness: light-headedness. 

157. circiunstances : circumstantial evidence. 

159. the centre : the middle of the earth. There is excellent 
humor in this certainty of Polonius about a situation wherein he 
is entirely at fault, try : test. 

160. four hours : used for an indefinite time. 

287 



Notes. Act II, Scene 2. 

163. arras : tapestry hung on the walls, for use as well as 
beauty. There was often a space of a foot or more between the 
arras and the wall. The name is derived from tapestry having 
been made originally at Arras in Northern France. 

164. encounter: meeting. 

165. thereon: therefore. 

168. poor wretch : used in pity and tenderness. Compare IV. 
7. 182. 

170. board him presently : speak to him at once. O, give me 
leave : pardon me for interrupting you. 

172. God a' mercy : God be thanked. 

174. fishmonger: It is probable that Hamlet meant nothing 
by this word. If we wish to force a meaning, however, the signif- 
icance may be : " You are sent to fish out my secret." 

181-184. The meaning seems to be : " if the sun breed mag- 
gots in a dead dog, how much the rather will your daughter run 
risks? let her not be in the way of temptation." 

185. How say you by that ? What do you say to that ? 

192. matter : Hamlet purposely misinterprets the word to 
mean " cause of dispute." 

195-199. Hamlet pretends to read from the book. He detests 
Polonius and bitterly satirizes his peculiarities. 

197. purging: discharging. 

200. not honesty : not decent. 

201. should be : would be. 

208. pregnant : wise, full of meaning. 

207. a happiness : a feHcity of expression. 

213-215. A pathetic transition from banter to seriousness — 
quite unobserved, of course, by Polonius. 

217. Hamlet has had more than enough of the old politician 
and turns with relief to the newcomers. Note the complete 
change in his manner. 

225. indifferent : ordinary, average. 

233. doomsday: the Day of Judgment, the end of the world. 

240. confines : places of confinement. 

244-246. One of the deeply philosophic remarks which occur in 
all of Shakespeare's plays. 

288 



Act II Scene 2. Notes. 

260. fay: faith. I cannot reason: I cannot carry on this 
argument. 

262-264. Hamlet puns upon the word " wait." " No, indeed, 
I will not class you with the rest of my servants, for, to tell you 
the truth, my retinue is detestable." 

264. in the beaten way of friendship : speaking as friend to 
friend. Hamlet drops the somewhat forced style of conversa- 
tion they have been using. 

269. too dear a halfpenny : too dear at a halfpenny, valueless. 

273. Up to this point, Hamlet has been really glad to see his 
friends and to join in a wit combat with them. But now some- 
thing wakes his suspicions. After a pathetic appeal to their old 
friendship, he gives them such an account of his mental state as 
will most surely convince the King, when it is reported to him, of 
his madness. 

275. modesties : simplicities. 

276. the good king and queen : bitter sarcasm. 

278. conjure : entreat, implore. 

279. consonancy : friendship, accord. They had been brought 
up together. 

281. proposer : orator, speaker, charge : appeal to. 

282. even and direct : plain and straightforward. 

285. I have an eye of you: I have my eye on you, I'm watching 
you. 

288-290. " So shall my anticipation forestall your disclosure of 
the reason why you were sent for, and your pledge of secrecy to 
the king and queen remain unbroken." 

291. forgone all custom of exercise: given up all my usual 
exercise. 

295. brave: glorious. 

296. fretted : adorned, ornamented. A " fretted " roof was 
one decorated with carved patterns. 

299. faculty: ability. 

300. express : perfectly modeled for its purpose. 

301. apprehension : perception, understanding. 

303. quintessence : a term in the ancient science of alchemy, 
signifying the purest part of anything. 

289 



Notes. Act II, Scene 2. 

309. lenten entertainment : meager, like the fare in Lent. 

310. coted : passed by, outstripped. A coursing term. One 
hound was said to " cote " another when he outran him and 
turned the hare. 

314. foU and target : blunted rapier and shield. 

315. the humorous man : the man who represented " humors," 
or eccentricities. He appeared frequently in contemporary plays 
and usually was pretty well knocked around — hence Hamlet's re- 
mark about him. Ben Jonson's dramas, " Every Man in his 
Humor " and " Every Man out of his Humor," deal with this 
type. 

316. tickle o' the sere : ready to laugh at anything, like a gun 
which would go off at the least- touch. The " sere," or " sear," 
was the catch in the gun-lock that held back the trigger. 

317. " The lady shall say what she likes, even if she says more 
than is set down and so spoils the blank verse." 

322. residence : fixed abode, as opposed to strolling. The lot 
of strolling players was never a very happy one ; it would be bet- 
ter for them to stay in town at their own theatre. 

324. inhibition : prohibition — a technical term for an order 
restraining or restricting theatrical performances. 

325. innovation : change — understood as for the worse. The 
word is said to refer to the license granted January 30, 1603, for 
the Children of the Revels to play at the Blackfriars Theatre and 
elsewhere. 

The whole passage is an amusing comment by Shakespeare upon 
the popularity of the Children's Companies, which were seriously 
affecting the fortunes of the men players at this time (1603-4). 
The ranks of the playwrights themselves were divided upon the 
question and their plays often contain allusion to the controversy. 

The " Children's Companies " form a curious chapter in the 
history of the English Stage. They had a distinct effect on the 
drama, and at their height they were very carefully organized. 
The most ancient Company was The Children of the Chapel Royal. 
A " Master of Children " was appointed in 1475. Originally 
part of the King's Household, they accompanied him on his move- 
ments and were boarded and lodged in the palace. When their 

290 



Act II, Scene 2. NoteS. 

voices changed, openings were found for them and they were started 
in life. The first record of the Chapel Boys as actors is found 
in 1502; they can be traced through the century until towards 
its close we find them acting at Court, in Inn-yards and finally 
at the Blackfriars Theatre. From 1575 to 1610 they seem to 
have been very popular — the public liked them. Moreover, they 
acted well ; the public schools ^ were full of Latin plays, and one 
writer complains that " they make all scholars play-boys." Ben 
Jonson, who is said to be referred to by Shakespeare in the pas- 
sage, wrote a deeply appreciative poem on a little fellow who died 
while a member of one of the Companies. They were well trained 
and carefully looked after and there is no doubt that the fine at- 
tainment of actors between 1600 and 161 7-1 8 was due in no small 
measure to the training received in the Children's Companies. 
They did a great deal for the stage. The feminine element 
came in with the plays for children, for much could be done with 
the highly trained and graceful boy-actors. Shakespeare found 
an audience ready for his women. They maintained the fondness 
for the lyric ; many were written for boys to sing, and we find 
hence many beautiful songs scattered through Shakespeare's plays. 
Again, they preserved for the stage the element of satire, which 
was sometimes very sharp. The author could put things in chil- 
dren's mouths which it would not be possible for grown actors to 
say. Many plays were written for the Children's Companies, 
marked by charm of phrase and clever dialogue : they were light, 
graceful, musical, sometimes fantastic. The children's dramatist 
was John Lyly, and some of his plays were : " Mother Bombie," 
" Endymion," " Alexander and Campaspe," " Midas" (allegori- 
cal comedies) ; " Galathea," '' Woman in the Moon " (pastoral 
comedies) . 

327. followed: popular. 

330. their endeavor keeps in the wonted pace : they are trying 
as hard as ever. 

1 I.e., the great endowed schools, such as Eton, Rugby, Harrow, Win- 
chester, etc. 

291 



Notes. Act II, Scene 2. 

331. aery: brood (usually applied to hawks), eyases: un- 
fledged birds. An " eyas " was a young untrained hawk, not 
long taken from the nest. 

332. cry out on the top of question: drown debate, or argu- 
ment, with their shrill voices, most tyrannically clapped : violently 
applauded. 

335. are afraid of goose-quills : " are afraid of being satirized 
by the pens of playwrights who write for the children's theater." 
The whole passage, lines 330-336, may be paraphrased as follows : 
" The professional players are trying as hard as ever, but what 
brings them down is the competition of this nest of young hawks 
(the boys of the Chapel Royal, etc.), who carry on the whole dia- 
logue at the top of their voices, get ridiculously applauded for it, 
and make such a noise in the regular theatres that true dramatists, 
whose wit is as keen and strong as a rapier, are afraid to encounter 
these brats, who fight, as it were, with a goose-quill ! " 

338. escoted : paid for, maintained. 

338-339. Will they pursue the quality no longer than they can 
sing? " Will they follow the profession of players only until their 
voices change? " 

342-343. exclaim against their own succession : i.e., injure the 
business for adult players, while they themselves are about to 
become adults. 

344. much to do : much ado. 

345. tarre : set them on — used especially of setting dogs on to 
fight. 

346. " For a time there was no market for plays which did not 
bring in this controversy." 

352. carry it away : carry off the prize, win the day ; in modern 
slang, " get away with it." 

353. Hercules and his load too : an allusion to the Globe Thea- 
ter, the sign of which was HerCules carrying the world on his shoul- 
ders. It was Shakespeare's theater, and only recently built. The 
Children carried the day even against the Globe. 

355-358. Hamlet cites the case of his uncle as another example 
of the changeability of popular favor. " Those who made faces 
at him while my father lived would give any money today for his 

292 



Act II, Scene 2. NotCS. 

miniature." 'Sblood means " God's blood." It was a common 
oath. 

362-367. Hamlet suddenly thinks that he has not given Rosen- 
crantz and Guildenstern a proper princely welcome, and that the 
attendants may have noticed some lack in his greeting of these 
old friends. As he does not wish to be seen receiving a company 
of Players more warmly than two guests of the Court, he takes 
pains, before the entrance of the Players, to add to his former 
welcome some details of ceremony with which all are familiar. 
It is obvious, however, that he trusts them no more, and that 
his old affection has become a mere form of words. He knows 
" a hawk from a handsaw " — he can distinguish between a friend 
and an enemy, appurtenance : proper accompaniment, comply 
with you in this garb : be ceremonious with you in this fashion. 
extent: behavior. 

370. mad north-north-west: The obscurity of this speech is 
probably due to our ignorance of the sport of falconry, or hawk- 
ing, any reference to which would be instantly and vividly clear 
to an Elizabethan audience. Here is an interesting note by an 
English Shakespeare scholar: "The expression obviously ^refers 
to the sport of hawking. Most birds, especially one of heavy 
flight like the heron, when roused by the falconer or his dog, would 
fly down the wind in order to escape. When the wind is from 
the north the heron flies towards the south, and the spectator may 
be dazzled by the sun and be unable to distinguish the hawk from 
the heron. On the other hand, when the wind is southerly, the 
heron flies towards the north, and it and the pursuing hawk are 
clearly seen by the sportsman, who has his back to the sun, and 
without difficulty knows the hawk from the hernsew." handsaw 
is a corruption for " heronshaw," or heron. ^ 

375. swaddling-clouts : baby-clothes. 

376. happily : haply, perchance. 

379. Hamlet pretends to be carrying on an ordinary conver- 
sation so that Polonius will not think they have been talking 
about him. When he prepares to surprise them with his bit of 
"news, Hamlet spoils his effect by getting in the first word about 
actors. 

293 



Notes. Act II, Scene 2. 

382. Roscius was a famous Roman actor of the time of Cicero. 

385. Buz, buz ! '' Stale news ! " 

388-393. A sarcastic reference to the subdivisions as officially 
outlined in government licenses. That issued to the Globe Com- 
pany in 1603 authorized them " freely to use and exercise the 
Arte and Facultie of playing Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, En- 
terludes, Moralls, Pasto rails, Stage-plaies, and such other like." 
scene individable : a play in which the scene does not change 
about, e.g., " The Tempest." This was the Unity of Place, 
poem unlimited : a play in which the scene shifts from place to 
place, as in most of Shakespeare's dramas. 

Seneca and Plautus were two Latin dramatists whose works 
were frequently acted at the Universities. Seneca was the fashion- 
able model for tragedy ; Plautus for comedy. For the law of writ 
and the liberty, these are the only men : " Both for repeating 
correctly what was written and for making up as they go along, 
these men are unrivalled." 

397. Hamlet's rejoinder is in his assumed character of madman. 
He sings part of an old ballad. The first " row " of this " pious 
chanson " may be quoted : 

Have you not heard these many years ago, 

Jephthah was judge of Israel? 
He had one daughter and no mo, 

The which he loved passing well: 
And as by lot, 
God wot, 
It so came to pass. 

As God's will was, 
That great wars there should be, 

And none should be chosen chief but he. 

411. abridgements : used in a double sense : the players abridge 
his conversation by entering, and an " abridgement " was, tech- 
nically, a dramatic performance. See " Midsummer's Night's 
Dream," V. i. 39: 

Say what abridgement have you for this evening, 
What masque, what music? 

294 



Act II, Scene 2. NoteS. 



The Players have an important place in the development of the 
plot. Their coming suggests to Hamlet a method of testing the 
value of the Ghost's communication; and this, in turn, leads to 
the catastrophe of the play. 

414. valanced: fringed with a beard. "Valance" means the 
hangings of a bed. 

415. Remember that in Shakespeare's day, and for one hun- 
dred and fifty years afterwards, the female parts were always taken 
by boys. 

417. chopine : a kind of high cork shoe. 

418. The boy would become ineligible for his part when his 
voice changed. cracked within the ring: Coins had a ring or 
circle stamped upon them, inclosing the sovereign's head. If a 
crack ran from the edge through this ring, the coin became 
uncurrent. 

420. French falconers: French sportsmen seem to have been 
willing to fly their hawks at any kind of bird. 

427. 't was caviare to the general : it was too fine for the gen- 
eral public. Caviare is a Russian condiment made of sturgeon's 
roe, pressed and salted. In Shakespeare's time it was a new and 
fashionable dainty. A writer in 1597 tells of a countryman who 
received " a little barrel of caviare," which he opened and tasted, 
but promptly sealed up again and sent back, with the message : 
" Commend me to my lady, and thank her . . . and tell her we 
have black soap enough already; but if it be any better thing I 
beseech her ladyship to bestow it upon a better friend that can 
better tell how to use it." 

429. cried in the top of mine : with more authority than mine. 

430. well digested in the scenes : the scenes well organized. 

431. as much modesty as cunning : as much simplicity as skill. 

432. no sallets in the lines to make the matter savory : no in- 
decency to add " spice " to the play — they were good honest 
lines, without trimmings. 

433-434. no matter in the phrase . . . affection: nothing in 
the language by which the author might be accused of affectation. 

436. more handsome than fine : contained more order and pro- 
portion than elaborate ornament. 

29s 



Notes. Act II, Scene 2. 

436. Eneas' tale to Dido. There is much discussion as to 
whether Shakespeare inserted this Pyrrhus episode in mockery of 
a poetic style which was popular at the time, or really thought as 
he makes Hamlet speak ; that is, whether or not he was satirizing 
the taste of the time in this passage. Perhaps the best solution 
is the simplest : the Players are friends to Hamlet and he would 
naturally speak kindly of their work ; the lines recited, with their 
rant and exaggeration, are just what one would expect from a 
strolling company." Of course the difficulty lies in reconciling the 
sincerity of Hamlet's praise with the " blood and thunder " nature 
of the lines quoted. We must remember, also, that it is necessary 
to mark out clearly the " play witjiin a play " which the actors 
are to perform. Hence the poetry must be exaggerated in some 
way in order to distinguish it from the poetry of the play itself. 

440. the Hyrcanian beast : the tiger. 

444. the ominous horse : the great wooden horse by which 
Troy was captured. The Greeks pretended that they had given 
up the siege and sailed away, leaving behind on the beach a huge 
wooden horse. The Trojans were suspicious at first, but finally 
decided to haul it into the city. This led to the fall of Troy ; for 
the horse concealed a band of Greek warriors who crept out at 
night, opened the gates to their countrymen and destroyed the 
city. 

446. heraldry : designs, dismal : horrible. The word is always 
used by Shakespeare in a strong sense. 

447. total gules : all red. " Gules " is a heraldic word for red ; 
as " argent " for silver, " azure " for blue, " or " for gold, etc. 
tricked : sketched over, as a coat of arms is treated. " Trick " is 
another heraldic term. 

449. impasted: made into a paste by the heat of the burning 
streets. 

452. o'er-sized: covered as with size, or glue, coagulate: 
hardened, clotted. 

457. discretion : judgment. Polonius has a very high opinion 
of his own critical faculties. 

460. rebellious to his arm : too heavy for him. 

463. fell : deadly, terrible. 

296 



Act II, Scene 2. Notes. 



464. senseless : inanimate, without senses. Ilium : a poetical 
name for Troy. 

470. a painted tyrant : a tyrant in a picture. 

471. like a neutral to his will and matter : as if indifferent to 
his purpose and deed. 

473. against : just before. See note, p. 266. 

474. rack : floating vapor in the sky. 

475. the orb below : the earth. 

476. hush : a noun used as an adjective, modifying " orb." anon : 
suddenly. 

477. region: air. 

479. Cyclops' hammers • the Cyclops were the huge one-eyed 
workers at the forge of Vulcan. 

480. Mars' armor: Mars was the god of War. proof eteme: 
everlasting strength, or resisting power. 

481. bleeding: either "streaming with blood," or "causing 
blood to flow." 

485. fellies : the rim of a wheel — the felloes. Fortune was 
commonly represented with a wheel, to suggest the " ups and 
downs" of life. See "King Lear," V. 3. 174: 

The wheel has come full circle, I am here. 

486. nave : hub, center. 

490. jig : A jig meant not only a comic dance, but any merry 
song, or the tune to which it was sung. 

491. Hecuba : wife of Priam and mother of ^Eneas. 

492. mobled: muffled up. The word was unusual, even in 
Shakespeare's day. Hamlet is puzzled; while Polonius, feeling 
he must say something, approves of it. 

496. bisson rheum : blinding tears. 

507. milch: soft, tender, mellow. The word survives in dia- 
lect in some parts of England as " melsh," or " melch," and is 
used of mellow fruit, or mild weather. In an old English poem we 
read : 

The vine's soil be not too molsh nor hard, 
But somewhat molsh, neither too fat nor lean. 
In gardening, the word survives in " mulch " — soft stuff spread 
over the roots of newly planted shrubs or trees. 

297 



Notes. Act II, Scene 2. 



508. passion : violent sorrow. 

512. bestowed : placed, lodged. 

513. the abstract and brief chronicles of the time: the sum- 
mary of the day and its history in brief. A little later Hamlet 
says that it is the function of the player to " show . . . the 
very age and body of the time his form and pressure." See III. 
2. 25-26. 

515. you were better : it would be better for you. 

519. God's bodykins : a familiar oath, meaning " God's body." 

520. after his desert : as he deserves. 

527-528. The Murder of Gonzago was one of the " revenge " 
plays of the time. 

531. a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines : These lines are 
probably found in Lucianus' speech (III. 2, 2.33-238). The idea 
has occurred to Hamlet which is worked out in the next Act ; his 
object in altering the play is to introduce a scene which will ex- 
actly reflect the crime of Claudius. 

534-535. look you mock him not : He will not allow the " tedious 
old fool "«to be laughed at by strangers. 

538. Ay, so : said impatiently. Hamlet wishes to be alone, 

539. The Player's emotion makes Hamlet realize his own weak- 
ness of purpose. 

542. conceit : fancy, imagination. 

543. wanned : grew pale. 

544. aspect: appearance. 

545. whole function : action of all his faculties. 

550. cue : motive, hint. In drama, the word which is the 
signal for an actor to enter. 

553. free : innocent. 

554. amaze : confound, bewilder. 

557. muddy-mettled : irresolute, dull spirited, peak : pine, mope. 

558. John-a-dreams : a sleepy, apathetic person, impregnant : 
indifferent to, inept, with no spark of life. 

560. property : kingly right, or condition. 

561. defeat: destruction. 

562. pate: head. 

568. pigeon-livered : mild-tempered, gall: courage. 

298 



Act II, Scene 2. NotCS. 



570. region kites : kites of the air. See note, line 477. 

572. kindless : unnatural, inhuman. 

580. About, my brain ! Go to work ! Set about it ! 

583. presently : as soon as possible. 

589. tent : probe, blench : flinch, start. 

591-592. the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape : A 
common belief of the time, when people thought that ghosts were 
" not the wandering souls of men, but the unquiet walks of devils, 
prompting us to murder and villainy." 

594. such spirits: as the weakness and melancholy just men- 
tioned. 

595. abuses me : deludes me, deceives me. 

596. relative : conclusive, to the purpose, this : the story told 
by the Ghost. 

596-597. Sir Henry Irving, one of the great Hamlets, made an 
interesting interpretation of these lines. As he said them he 
rushed over to a pillar and as the curtain descended was scribbling 
in his tablets the notes for his " dozen or sixteen lines." 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Why did the King send for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ? 
What hint as to their personalities is given in the early portion 
of this scene? 

2. Analyze carefully the part played by Polonius. Shakespeare 
makes his personality quite distinct — what do you make of 
him? Should you like to have him as a friend? How do the 
King and Queen feel towards him? What is Hamlet's opinion 
of the old courtier? 

3. Read again the directions given by the King to the two 
messengers in I. 2. 17-39, and compare with the answer brought 
back from Norway. What should you say as to the King's 
ability as a ruler ? 

4. Test the truth of Hamlet's exclamation : " These tedious 
old fools ! " 

5. At what point does Hamlet begin to distrust the sincerity of 
his friends ? Can you explain how he guards himself against them ? 

299 



Notes. Act III, Scene 1. 

6. Find some references to the London life of Shakespeare's 
day. 

7. Find out all you can about the Children's Companies. 
Consult your School Librarian. Do you think a group of boys 
to act Shakespeare could be organized among your own friends? 

8. Does Hamlet really admire the speech given by the Player? 
Or is he speaking sarcastically? or merely talking to please the 
Players ? 

9. What do you think of the criticisms of Polonius ? 

10. Describe the effect produced upon Hamlet by the Player's 
speech. 

11. How is our interest held in suspense at the end of this 
Act? 

12. Read over the passage beginning 

I have of late — but wherefore I know not . . . 
This has been termed the most beautiful prose passage in the 
plays. Give some reasons for the statement. 

ACT III 

Scene 1 

This scene has been assigned by some critics to the preced- 
ing Act. The King has been questioning Rosencrantz and 
Guildenstern, who bring him a false report. Hamlet meets 
Ophelia, and although her appearance revives for a moment his 
old love for her, yet almost at once he realizes that she is deceiv- 
ing him. He is obliged to act the madman again, and his an- 
guish at the severing of the last bond between them makes the 
madness almost real. We learn also, pretty definitely, that 
though every one else is misled, the King has his suspicions and 
plans to get rid of him. 

1. drift of circumstance : roundabout method. 

2. confusion : confusion of mind. 

3. grating : disturbing, irritating. 

7. forward to be sounded : easy to question. 

300 



Act III, Scene 1. NotCS. 



8. keeps aloof: The subject " he " is omitted. 

12. forcing of his disposition : against his inclination. 

13. niggard of question, etc, : slow to begin conversation, 
but ready to answer our questions. Rosencrantz and Guilden- 
stern are not telling the truth, because they are dissatisj&ed with 
their attempt to sound Hamlet for the King. As a matter of 
fact, it was just the other way in the interview : Hamlet saw 
through their schemes, and remained master of the situation. 

14-15. Did you assay him to any pastime ? " Did you test 
him by suggesting any amusement? " 
17. o'er-raught : overtook and passed. 

26. give him a further edge : arouse his interest, stimulate him. 
29. closely: secretly. 

31. affront : meet, confront. 

32. espials : spies. 

33. bestow : place, station. 

44-46. " Read this book, so that the appearance of your being 
thus engaged may serve as a reason for your being alone." The 
book was probably a book of prayers. 

47. too much proved : found true by frequent experience. 

49. O, 't is too true ! The first sign of remorse in the King. 

56-88. In this famous and beautiful soliloquy, Hamlet con- 
siders the question of making away with himself in order to 
avoid the difficulties which life has brought upon him. With 
characteristic irresolution, however, he can come to no definite 
conclusion. 

56. To be : to live. 

59. Or to take arms against a sea of troubles: The mixed 
metaphor here has given rise to much discussion, but the 
meaning is clear enough, and the technical difficulty vanishes 
when we remember that several contemporary writers used the 
same thought in practically the same words. Moreover, Shake- 
speare may have had in mind a custom attributed to the early 
Northern warriors. " Some of them are so bold . . . that they 
throw themselves into the foaming floods with their swords 
drawn in their hands, and shaking their javelins, as though 
they were of force and violence to withstand the rough waves." 

301 



Notes. Act III, Scene 1 



65. rub : a term from the game of bowls, meaning a collision 
that hinders the ball in its course. 

67. shuffled off this mortal coil : rid ourselves of the trou- 
bles of this mortal life. " Coil " means " trouble," " turmoil." 

68. give us pause : make us hesitate, force us to take time for 
reflection, respect : consideration. 

69. of so long life : so long lived. 

70. time : life in this world. 

71. contumely: insult, despising. 

73. insolence of office : Shake^-peare elsewhere refers to the 
harshness of men " dressed in a little brief authority." 

75. quietus : discharge, release. A legal term, which meant 
a discharge or acquittance given on settlement of an account 

76. a bare bodkin : a mere dagger, fardels : burdens, bundles. 

77. grunt: groan. 

79. bourn : boundary, frontier. 

83. conscience : consideration, thought about the future. 

84. native hue : natural color. 

85. cast : surface coloring, thought : brooding, pensiveness. 

86. pith and moment : meaning and importance. 

87. with this regard : considered in this way. currents : 
courses, awry : aside, crooked. 

88. Soft you now ! Evidently said to himself as he suddenly 
sees Ophelia. 

89. orisons : prayers. 

94. re-deliver: give back. 

103. Ha, ha ! Here Hamlet hears a rustle behind the arras, 
and at once suspects the truth. His whole manner changes ; he 
assumes a wildness of utterance which, while it deceives Ophelia 
and the two spies, but poorly conceals his own anguish in discov- 
ering the treachery of the girl he loves, honest: pure, virtuous. 

107-108. your honesty should admit no discourse to your 
beauty : " your virtue should stand sentry over your beauty, 
and allow no communication with it." 

109. commerce: intercourse. 

117-118. virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we 
shall relish of it: "No matter how much virtue has been en- 



Act III, Scene 1. NotCS. 



grafted on us we shall always smack of our original wickedness." 
A purposely cynical remark, inoculate : engraft, our old stock : 
the original evil of our nature. 

122-129. Hamlet is trying to persuade Ophelia that he is not 
worthy of her love. 

122. indifferent honest : fairly virtuous. 

130. Where's your father? He puts her directly to the test. 
She lies to him, and he bursts out into invective against women 
in general. So frantic is his language, that Ophelia is convinced 
that he is mad. 

144. you jig, you amble, you lisp : you skip about, you walk 
in a foolish way, you talk affectedly. 

145. make your wantonness your ignorance : you excuse 
immodest words or deeds by pretending you know no better. 

148. all but one : the King. 

152. The expectancy and rose of the fair state : "his coun- 
try's hope, the fine flower and ornament of the state." 

153. The glass of fashion and the mould of form: "the 
mirror of fashion and the model upon which all endeavored to 
form themselves." 

155. deject : dejected, heartbroken. 

159-160. blown youth Blasted with ecstasy: youth in its 
full flower blasted with madness. 

162-164. The King is evidently suspicious, though Polonius 
sticks to his original theory. 

165. on brood : brooding. 

166. the hatch and the disclose: verbs used as nouns. 
" Disclose " was a technical term for young birds chipping the- 
shell. 

170. our neglected tribute: the Danegeld, which was first 
levied by Ethelred the Unready in 994 to buy off the Danish 
marauders. 

172. variable: varying. 

173. something-settled : somewhat settled. 

174-175. puts him thus From fashion of himself : makes him 
unlike himself, different from his ordinary habits and bearing. 
183. roimd : straightforward, plain spoken. 



Notes. Act III, Scene 1. 



184-185. in the ear Of all their conference : within hearing 
of their whole conversation. 

185. if she find him not: if she fail to discover his secret. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Give the result of the interview of {he two spies with Ham- 
let, as stated by them to the King and Queen. 

2. What do you think of Ophelia's consenting to follow out 
her father's plan? See especially lines 44-49. 

3. Why is the King remorseful? What does he mean by the 
words, "O heavy burthen " ? 

4. Write out, in your own words, a careful summary of the 
passage beginning 

To be, or not to be, that is the question. 

When you have done this, read the lines aloud to see if you can 
bring out the beauty of the passage as well as its meaning. 

5. Does Hamlet come to any definite conclusion in this 
soliloquy ? 

6. Is it to be supposed that the King and Polonius overhear 
this speech, or is it intended for the audience alone? 

7. Do you think that Hamlet still loves Ophelia? How 
would you have him act as he receives back his presents ? 

8. At what point does he perceive that he is being spied 
upon? Suggest some way in which he might be made aware 
of the fact. 

9. Why does Hamlet speak so harshly? What is the effect 
upon Ophelia? 

10. Is the King convinced that Hamlet is mad? What plan 
does he propose? 

11. What further test is suggested by Polonius to find out the 
truth about Hamlet's grief? 

12. In what ways have the theories held respectively by the 
King and Polonius been altered during the conversation which 
they have overheard? 



304 



Act III, Scene 2. Notes. 



ACT m 

Scene 2 

This scene, which lies at the center of the play, shows how 
Hamlet finally convinces himself of the King's guilt. In a sense 
it marks the climax of the action : all that has gone before leads 
up to the terrible disclosure when "the King rises"; all that 
follows is the direct result of what has been revealed. Through- 
out, Hamlet's personality is portrayed out in masterly fashion : 
his excellent advice to the Players : his appeal to that -stanch 
friend, Horatio; his assumed wildness during the play; his 
effective dealing with Guildenstern ; his testing of old Polonius. 

As regards the language of the "play within a play" we must 
remember that it is necessary to make this portion stand out 
clearly from the main action. Hence the exaggerated speech 
put in the mouths of the Player King and Player Queen. 

2. trippingly on the tongue : with clear and distinct articula- 
tion. " This dialogue of Hamlet with the Players is one of the 
happiest instances of Shakespeare's power of diversifying the 
scene while he is carrying on the plot." — Coleridge. Hamlet's 
advice is very shrewd and sensible ; he is especially anxious 
that his own " dozen or sixteen lines " should be well delivered. 
Like most educated men of the time, he is deeply interested in 
the drama, and has a sound knowledge of what constitues good 
acting. 

9. peri wig-pate d fellow : wearing a wig. At the time wigs 
were worn only by actors. 

10. groundlings : those who stood on the ground in the " pit " 
of the theater. They paid a penny for admission. In a play 
by Ben Jonson they are called " the rude, barbarous crew, a 
people that have no brains, and yet grounded judgments : these 
will hiss anything that mounts above their grounded capacities." 

13. Termagant : a boisterous Devil, in the old English Mys- 
tery Plays. Herod : another favorite character in the Mysteries, 
always acted with much noise and ranting* 

30S 



Notes. Act III, Scene 2. 

14. I warrant your honor : I assure you we will, 
19. from: contrary to. 

23. pressure : imprint, impress. Be natural and true to 
life, says Hamlet. 

24. come tardy off : too feebly represented. 

26. censure : judgment, opinion. " The opinion of one 
judicious person you must allow to outweigh a whole theater- 
full of ordinary folk." 

34. indifferently : fairly well. 

37. The clown was a popular institution, well known to gen- 
erations of theater-goers. He would often set the groundlings 
roaring by jokes of his own invention, quite apart from the play 
itself. 

39. barren : stupid, foolish. 

40. necessary question of the play: important development 
of the plot. 

52. As e'er my conversation coped withal : as ever I engaged 
with in conversation. Hamlet's affection for Horatio is based 
on the fine and solid qualities of character which he here men- 
tions. It is noteworthy that Horatio is with the Prince at the 
critical periods of his life. He is never found wanting. 

57. candied : " sugared with hypocrisy." 

58. pregnant hinges of the knee : ready to bend at the least 
hint. 

59. thrift : gain, success. See " The Merchant of Venice " : 

I have a mind presages me such thrift 
That I should questionless be fortunate. 

60. my dear soul : my own soul. 

60-63. "Ever since I was able to judge of men, my inmost 
soul has chosen you for itself." 

66. blood and judgment : passion and reason. 

67-68. See lines 339-347. 

71. Something too much of this : a genuinely manly little 
remark. Hamlet breaks off with natural reticence. He does 
not want to appear sentimental, in view of the simple and sin- 
cere friendship which exists between them. 

306 



Act III, Scene 2. Notes. 

73. one scene : the " dozen or sixteen " lines. 

76. with the very comment of thy soul : put your whole soul 
into it. 

77. occulted : concealed, hidden. 

78. unkennel : disclose, reveal. 

81. Vulcan's stithy : the forge of Vulcan. 
84. censure of his seeming : judgment of his appearance and 
behavior. Well : adjective — " it is well." 
87. idle : foolish, light-headed, crazy. 

90. the chameleon's dish : chameleons were supposed to 
live on air. 

91. promise-crammed : Does Hamlet refer to the King's 
professions of love? Seel. 2. 107-112. 

93. these words are not mine : these words have no bearing 
on my question. 

95. you played once i' the university: Plays were given 
regularly at Oxford and Cambridge. 

99. I did enact Julius Caesar. Shakespeare's play had ap- 
peared in 1602. 

103. stay upon your patience : wait your convenience. 

107. lie in your lap : it seems to have been a common act of 
gallantry to lie at the feet of a lady during any dramatic enter- 
tainment. 

111. your only jig-maker: "O yes, I'm a great merry- maker. 
Why shouldn't I be merry; see how merry my mother is, with my 
father dead only these two hours." 

115. let the devil wear black, for I '11 have a suit of sables : a 
difhcult passage. The sense seems to be : " I '11 give up mourn- 
ing, I'll throw off my inky clothes." In this case, sables must 
mean rich fur trimming, as far as possible removed from " cus- 
tomary suits of solemn black." 

120. not thinking on : not being thought of. 

121. the hobby-horse. This was a principal figure in the old 
morris-dances which were suppressed at the Reformation. In 
Shakespeare's time the hobby-horse was going out of fashion. 
Hamlet quotes from a ballad which laments that the hobby- 
horse is forgotten. 

307 



Notes. Act III, ocene2. 

Stage Direction : Hautboys play. The diimh-show enters. The 
dumb-show exhibits to us precisely what we are to see again 
with the accompaniment of speech. That such procedure was 
not usual in English theaters is shown by Ophelia's question : 
"What means this, my lord?" Apparently Hamlet wishes to 
make sure, by the double representation, that the play shall 
come home to the King with its full significance. 

123. miching mallecho : secret mischief. 

125. belike : probably, imports the argument : foreshadows 
the plot. 

135. the posy of a ring : short motto or line of verse inscribed 
within a ring. Some examples of Shakespeare's time are : God 
above, increase our love. Let love abide, till death divide. 
God's blessing be, with thee and me. See " The Merchant of 
Venice," V. i. 147-150. 

138. The play now goes on, interrupted by Hamlet's sarcas- 
tic comment, until the -King, unable to bear the working of his 
conscience, rushes from the room. During all this time, we 
must remember, both Hamlet and Horatio watch him very 
keenly ; no expression of his face escapes them. The play it- 
self is purposely imitative of the older and cruder forms of the 
Elizabethan drama, both in the rimes and the stilted, artifi- 
cial language — note, for example, the labored effect of lines 

138-143- 

147. cheer : cheerfulness, health. 

148. I distrust you : I am anxious about you. 

150. women's fear and love holds quantity : " women's fear 
and love are in direct proportion to each other, so that the more 
women love the more they fear." 

151. in neither aught, or in extremity : they either fear and 
love not at all or they go to extremes. 

152. proof: trial. 

157. My operant powers their function leave to do : My vital 
powers are decaying. 

164. Wormwood, wormwood : a symbol of remorse. Hamlet 
is watching- the King's face, and sees a change come into it at the 
Player Queen's words, line 163. 

308 



Act III, Scene 2. NotCS. 

165. instances : motives, inducements. 

166. base respects of thrift : base, mercenary considerations. 
172. validity: value, worth. 

174. mellow : ripe. 

175. necessary: inevitable. 

176. debt : owing. 

180. enactures : resolutions. 

188. advanced : successful. 

192. seasons : ripens, brings him to maturity in his true 
character. 

200. " Pleasure by day and rest by night both be locked from 
me! " 

202. " A hermit's fare in a cell be the limit of my attainment ! " 

203. " Every adverse thing that blanches the face of joy." 
215. argument : plot of the play, subject. 

220. tropically: figuratively. A "trope" is a figure of 
speech. 

224-226. Bitterly ironical. " Free " means "innocent," "free 
from crime." let the galled jade wince, our withers are un- 
wrung: a proverbial expression. A horse is "galled" by the 
saddle; its withers are wrung when the part between the 
shoulders is pinched or pressed too hard by it. 

228. chojus : a personage introduced to explain the action 
of the play. Shakespeare uses a chorus in " King Henry V," 
before each act. 

229. I could interpret, etc. : In the old puppet-shows the 
action was interpreted to the audience by some one seated on 
the stage. Note Hamlet's attitude towards Ophelia through- 
out the scene. He is bitter, even rude, to her, both to cure her 
of her love for him, and to convince the King of his madness. 
The effect upon Ophelia is seen in her pathetic attempts to 
carry on a conversation. 

232. This line is from an old tragedy familiar to Elizabethan 
playgoers. 

233-238. When we remember Hamlet's remarks to Horatio, 
77-78, it would seem that these are the lines which he inserted in 
the play. The King's " occulted guilt " certainly reveals itself here. 

309 



Notes. Act III, Scene 2. 



234. confederate season : suitable time, favoring occasion. 

236. Hecate's ban: "Ban" means curse. Hecate was the 
goddess of mischief and revenge, infected: poisoned. 

237. dire property : deadly quality. 

238. wholesome : healthy. 

241. The " Italian " play mentioned has not been identified. 

243. The king rises : At this point the action of the play 
reaches a climax. Hamlet has gained the information he 
sought ; his way is now plain before him, if he has the deter- 
mination to carry out his idea of revenge. For the moment, 
of course, he gives vent to the excitement which has been pent 
up within him. 

253. a forest of feathers : a fine plume of feathers such as 
actors wore. 

254. turn Turk : go to the bad. 

254-255. Provincial roses : double rosettes of ribbon worn on 
the shoes. So named from Provence, where roses were much 
cultivated. 

255. razed : slashed, or streaked, in patterns. 

256. a cry : a company. Literally, a pack of hounds. Ham- 
let meant that his dramatic talent, as shown by the passage in 
the play, entitles him to a place with the actors. 

257. Half a share: Horatio, carrying out the whimsical 
idea of Hamlet, says : " You are entitled to half a share in the 
company, at least." To which Hamlet replies : " No, indeed, 
a whole one! " The companies of the time were organized in 
three divisions: the "sharers" in the company, who got the 
most profits ; the ordinary players, who received some part 
thereof; the lowest grade (" hireling"), paid a small fixed salary. 

262. pajock : peacock. By some authorities the word is 
considered as equivalent to " patchocke," a ragamufhn. Else- 
where Hamlet calls Claudius "a king of shreds and patches." 

270. recorders: a " recorder" was a kind of flute that was 
played like a flageolet. 

272. perdy : an old-fashioned oath. 

278. distempered : disturbed, upset. 

280. choler: anger. 

310 



Act III, Scene 2. Notes. 



283. purgation : proof with a pun upon the medical mean- 
ing of the word. 

285-286. " Put your conversation in some sensible form, and 
do not fly off so wildly from the point." 

287. pronounce : speak on, go ahead. 

291. Guildenstern resents the biting sarcasm of Hamlet's 
" You are welcome." 

292. wholesome : reasonable. 

294. your pardon: your permission to leave. See I. 2. 56. 
303. amazement and admiration : bewilderment and wonder. 
Hamlet answers Rosencrantz without noting which of the two 
has spoken. 

307. closet : private apartment. 
310. trade : business, dealings. 

312. these pickers and stealers : these hands. " By this 
hand ! " was a common oath. 

313. your cause of distemper: the cause of your disorder. 
316. I lack advancement : I have not received my rights : 
317-318. Seel. 2. 108-109. 

319. The whole proverb runs : " While the grass grows the 
steed starves." (While grass doth grow, oft starves the silly 
steed.) 

321. To withdraw with you: Hamlet takes Guildenstern 
aside. 

322-323. " Why do you keep working around me with your 
questions, as if you would drive me into a trap?" To "get the 
wind " of an animal in hunting was to move to windward of it, 
so that it would run away in the direction of the net or snare. 

325. Probably Guildenstern is confused by Hamlet's direct ac- 
cusation, and stammers out words that do not mean much. 
What he is trying to say may be that if he has gone too far it 
must be set down to excess of friendship. 

333. 'T is as easy as lying: " and you 're good at that" — 
a bitterly scornful remark, ventages : air-holes. 

339-347. Hamlet has lost patience with the two hypocrites 
and lets them hear the truth. Note that on the occasion of their 
next conversation with him (IV. 2) they drop the pretense of 



Notes. Act III, Scene 2. 



friendship and speak almost brusquely. It will be understood 
that they are now ready enough for the commission which the 
King assigns them, fret : vex, annoy ; also referring to the 
bars on the finger-board of a guitar. 

351-360. Hamlet finds that Polonius is acting under instruc- 
tions to humor — to " fool " — him. They fool me to the top of 
my bent : to the full extent of my inclination. 

364. very witching time of night : the true time for witch- 
craft, the time when the power of evil is at its height. See Mac- 
beth's famous " dagger " speech (" Macbeth," II. i. 49-52) : 
Now o'er the one half-world 
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse 
The curtained sleep. Witchcraft celebrates 
Pale Hecate's offerings. . . . 
366. contagion: poison. 
370. Nero murdered his mother Agrippina. 

374. shent : reproached, put to shame. 

375. To give them seals : to ratify them by deeds, i.e., by 
using the dagger. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Make a list of the suggestions which Hamlet gives the 
Players. Have you ever se'en a play to which this advice might 
be applied? 

2. Explain what Hamlet means by saying that the object of 
plays is " to hold the mirror up to nature ; to show virtue her 
own feature ; scorn her own image, and the very age and body 
of the time his form and pressure." Does this apply to plays of 
the present day? What do you suppose Shakespeare would 
have thought of a modern musical comedy of the " movies " ? 

3. What is Hamlet's opinion of Horatio? Find some in- 
stances throughout the play which justify this opinion. 

4. Why does Hamlet speak thus to Horatio at this particular 
time? 

5. Make a plan for a setting of this scene, marking the positions 
of the various characters and the place where the play is acted. 

312 



Act III, Scene 3. Notes. 

6. Point out some differences in the language of the Player 
King and Queen as compared with that of the real play. How 
do you account for the differences ? 

7. What is Hamlet's attitude towards Rosencrantz and 
Guildenstern? 

8. Why does Polonius, upon his entry, agree with every- 
thing Hamlet says ? 

9. How does Hamlet feel towards his mother ? 

ACT III 

Scene 3 

The essential features of the scene are the determination of 
the King to put Hamlet out of the way and the failure of Ham- 
let to act definitely when the opportunity presents itself, 
" Now," he says, "I might do it; and now I will do it. . . ." 
But he does not do it : the " native hue of resolution " is " sick- 
lied o'er with the pale cast of thought," and his enterprise loses 
the name of action. The incident is typical of his character ; he 
can plan, but not perform ; he will act on impulse, or not at all. 
We see that for him there can be no real solution of his difficul- 
ties. 

1. I like him not : I am uneasy about his present condition. 

2. range : roam freely. 

3. commission : official authority. 

5. terms of our estate : the condition upon which the safety 
of our throne depends. 

6. hazard: risk. 

7. ourselves provide : prepare ourselves, make ourselves 
ready. The flattery of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is obvi- 
ous throughout. 

8. religious : scrupulous. 

11. the single and peculiar life : the individual, as distin- 
guished from the King. 

13. noyance : harm, injury. 

14. weal : welfare, safety. 



Notes. Act III, Scene 3. 

16. gulf: whirlpool. Cf . '' Henry V," II. 4. 9-10 : 

For England his approaches makes as fierce 
As waters to the sucking of a gulf. 

17. massy : heavy, massive. 

18. mount : mounting, support. 

20. mortised: socketed. 

21. annexment: appendage. 

24. arm you : prepare yourselves thoroughly. 

28. convey myself : place myself secretly. 

29. to hear the process : to hear what goes on. tax him 
home : question him thoroughly. 

30. as you said : The suggestion was really made by Polonius, 
but in the spirit of a courtier he ascribes the idea to the 
King. 

33. of vantage : from a secret post of observation. 

36-72. The King suffers from remorse, but he is unable to 
give up the fruits of his crime. The strange composition of his 
mind is seen in the fact that he has no thought of repentance 
for the second murder just planned. Shakespeare introduces 
this passage in order that the King may not appear as an im- 
possible monster of treachery and cruelty. He shows some 
signs, at least, of human pity and remorse. 

37. the primal, eldest curse : the curse pronounced upon the 
first murderer, Cain. 

45-46. Compare " Macbeth," II. 3. 60 and V. i. 31. 

47. " To oppose sin face to face." 

49. forestalled: prevented. 

54. effects : gains. 

56. offence : advantages won by tjhe offense. 

57-58. These two lines are an example of the confusion of 
metaphor which is sometimes found in the plays. Such confu- 
sion, however, in no case leads to obscurity in thought; the 
meaning is always clear. Offence's gilded hand may shove 
by justice : bribery may push justice to one side. 

59-60. the wicked prize itself Buys out the law : the judge is 
bribed with a share of the spoil. 



Act III, Scene 3. NoteS. 



61-62. there the action lies In his true nature : there the action 
is laid before the court in its true nature. " Lies " is used in a 
legal sense. 

64. what rests? what remains, is left? 

68. limed : caught as with bird-lime. 

69. make assay : make the attempt. 

73. Hamlet's chance comes to conclude his vengeance with 
one stroke ; but his fatal irresolution intervenes. 

75. That would be scanned: that needs to be carefully 
thought over. The moment Hamlet begins to " scan," all is 
over with him as far as any immediate action is concerned. 

78. A pause while he thinks it over. 

79. this is hire and salary : this would be the deed of a paid 
assassin. 

82. audit : his final account with heaven. 

83. in our circumstance and course of thought: 'Tis heavy 
with him: " as we human beings look at facts and think them 
over there is a heavy balance against him." 

85. him : i.e., the King. 

87. Hamlet sheathes his sword. 

88. hent : purpose, design. Literally, grip, hold, 

94. stays : awaits me. 

95. This physic : this praying of yours. The line has an 
ironic bearing upon Hamlet himself. His own delay but pro- 
longs the period of his ineffectiveness. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sincere in their answers 
to the King's request? Or are they trying to curry favor? Or 
is what they say the ordinary language of etiquette ? 

2. Why does Polonius use the expression, " As you said," 
when he knows that the suggestion did not originally come from 
the King? 

3. Read carefully the King's speech beginning, " O, my 
offence is rank, it smells to heaven." Trace the thought 
throughout. Why is this side of the King's character indicated 

31S 



Notes. Act III, Scene 4. 



at this stage of the play? How do you account for his praying, 
" Forgive me my foul murder," while at the same time he is 
planning another murder? 

4. Why does Hamlet forego this opportunity of killing the 
King? Is it, as he says, that his revenge may be more dread- 
ful? Or is it due to mere irresolution on his part? Or is there 
another more subtle reason ? 

5. What efifect is produced upon the course of the play by 
his failure to act ? 

6. Make an analysis of Hamlet's character as so far revealed. 
Try to find out his good qualities and those which are not so 
good. \ 

7. In what respects does this scene advance the movement 
of the plot? 

ACT III 

Scene 4 

This scene brings up the question of the Queen's complicity 
in the murder of her husband. But it seems to show (line 30) 
that she really knew nothing about it, although faithless to him 
in love. Hamlet upbraids her bitterly for this faithlessness and 
succeeds in waking her to a sense of her evil doing, though not 
to repentance. During the rest of the play she is torn between' 
her love for her son and her love for Claudius. Nothing comes 
of it all : she is unable to save him from the danger of the jour- 
ney to England nor can she bring about any reconciliation be- 
tween him and the King. 

1. straight: at once, lay home: speak sharply. 

2. broad : unrestrained, open. 

4. heat : the anger of the King, sconce : hide, conceal. The 
" arras " were the tapestry hangings on the walls. They were 
frequently suspended a foot from the wall, so that there was 
plenty of room behind them. 

11. idle : frivolous. 

14 rood : the Cross. 



316 



Act III, Scene 4. NoteS. 

17. The Queen rises angrily and moves toward the door, but 
Hamlet intercepts her. 

24. Hamlet evidently thinks that the King is concealed be- 
hind the arras, and strikes at him on the impulse of the moment. 
The death of Polonius thus is the first tragic result of his 
delay. 

32. thy better : the King. Hamlet hoped that his vengeance 
would be quickly accomplished. 

33. too busy : too interfering. 

37. brassed: hardened it. We say " brazen it out." 

38. proof and bulwark against sense : armored and fortified 
against feeling. 

44. sets a blister there: bad women were branded on the 
forehead. 

45. dicers' oaths : the promises of gamblers. 

46. the body of contraction : the formal observance of the 
marriage contract. 

49. solidity and compound mass : the solid earth itself. 

50. tristful : sad, sorrowful, doom : the day of judgment. 

51. thought-sick : sick with anxiety. 

52. index : preface, prologue. 

53. Hamlet here points to two pictures hanging on the wall. 
56. front : forehead. 

58. station : bearing, attitude, poise of the body. 

59. new-lighted : newly alighted. 
67. batten : feed grossly, grow fat. 
69. hey-day : wildness, wantonness. 

71-76. " You must have senses, because you can move; but 
surely those senses are paralyzed, for madness would not err so, nor 
was sense ever so controlled by madness but that some degree of 
choice was left to it to serve in such a difference as between these 
pictures." 

77. cozened you at hoodman blind : cheated you at blind- 
man's buff. 

79. sans : without. A French word, at the time used freely. 
Compare " As You Like It," II. 7. 166 : 

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. 



Notes. Act III, Scene 4, 



81. mope : be stupid, incapable of reason. 

83. mutine : mutiny. 

86. compulsive : compelling, compulsory. 

88. reason panders will : reason itself seduces the will. 

90. grained : dyed in grain. 

91. will not leave their tinct : will not give up their color, will 
not come out. 

96. a vice of kings : a buffoon king, a clown among kings. 
The " vice " was a stock character in the old plays. Origi- 
nally representing the bad side of human nature in the Morali- 
ties (where the qualities were personified), he eventually came 
to be a mere fun-maker and was usually represented with a 
wooden sword — the " dagger of lath " mentioned in " Twelfth 
Night " : 

I'll be with you again 

In a trice, 

Like to the old Vice, 
Your need to sustain; 

Who, with dagger of lath, 
In his rage and his wrath, 

Cries, ah, ha ! to the devil. 

97. cutpurse: sneak thief. The purse, in Shakespeare's 
time, was worn outside, attached to the girdle. 

98. from a shelf : he stole the crown like a petty thief, and 
had not even the courage to fight for it. 

100. shreds and patches: in reference to the parti-colored 
dress worn by the clown. It may also mean " a patchwork king." 

103. The Ghost is invisible to the Queen. 

105. lapsed in time and passion: sunk in emotional feeling 
and blind to the lapse of time. 

110. amazement: dismay. 

112. conceit : fancy, imagination. 

116. with the incorporal air hold discourse : talk to the empty 
air. 

119. bedded : matted, excrements : outgrowths. The word 
was commonly used of the hair and nails. 

318 



Act III, Scene 4. • NotCS. 



125. capable : capable of feeling. 

126-127. convert My stem effects : change the stern working 
of my purposes. 

128. true color : right character. 

133. in his habit as he lived : in his ordinary dress. 

136-137. " Madness is very skillful in creating such unreal 
appearance." The Queen speaks as if to a madman. 

137-142. Hamlet, in reply, proposes a practical test to prove 
his sanity. " My pulse is normal. If you wish to test me, I will 
repeat word for word what I have said, A madman could not stick 
to the point." 

143. Do not flatter yourself with false comfort. " Flatter- 
ing unction " literally means an ointment which, while seeming 
to heal, in reality injures. 

146. mining : undermining, eating away. 

148. avoid what is to come : avoid sin in the future. 

149. compost : manure. 

150-153. Forgive my virtuous rebuke — in these easy-going 
times virtue must bow and truckle to vice for leave to help him. 

158. assume : acquire, put on. 

159-163. While, on the one hand, custom dulls our souls to the 
evil of bad actions often performed, yet on the other hand it also 
builds us up in good courses, and makes the practice of virtue easy. 
From one point of view custom is a devil ; from the other, an angel. 

165-166. when you are desirous to be blessed: when you 
repent and pray for heaven's blessing. 

179-187. These lines are meant ironically, and the Queen 
so understands them. 

181. paddock : toad, gib : tom-cat. 

182. dear concemings : deeply personal matters. 

183. the famous ape : in reference to a story now lost. The 
ape wanted to see if he could fly like the birds, and to test the 
matter (" to try conclusions ") got into the basket himself and 
jumped off the roof. 

191. How did Hamlet know this ? 

192. concluded : decided on. 

196. marshal me to knavery : lead me into danger. 

319 



Notes. • Act III, Scene 4. 

197-198. It 's good sport to have the engineer blown up with his 
own bomb. " Petar " is defined by a dictionary of the time as 
" an engine (made like a bell, or mortar) wherewith strong gates 
are blown open." 

202. This man shall set me packing : this man (Polonius) 
shall set me off in a hurry ; or, shall set me to plotting for my 
own safety. Probably Hamlet intends both senses. 

Stage Direction : dragging in Polonius. As there was no drop 
curtain on the Elizabethan stage, it was necessary for the actor 
in cases such as this to carry off the dead body himself. Hence 
we have Falstaff, in " King Henry IV," bearing away Harry 
Percy's body on his back (V. 4. 131). Usually stage direc- 
tions were given. The following are interesting examples of 
Shakespeare's way of meeting the problem : '' Julius Caesar," 
III. 2. 261; " Romeo and Juliet," III. i. 198; " King Richard 
II," V. 5. 117; " King Richard III," I. 4- 271; " King Henry 
IV," V. 4. 160; " King Lear," IV. 6. 278-280. See also the last 
Stage Direction in " Hamlet." 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What should you judge of the relations between Polonius 
and the Queen from his words to her in the opening passage? 

2. Why did Hamlet come to see her ? 

3. Was the Queen guilty of the death of her first husband? 
Base your reply upon your knowledge of the action up to this 
point. 

4. I took thee for thy better. 

Why does Hamlet try to kill the King now, when he refused 
the opportunity offered so short a time before ? 

5. Does Hamlet love his mother? Can you reconcile his love 
with the harsh words he uses to her ? 

6. What is the dramatic purpose served by the second ap- 
pearance of the Ghost to Hamlet? Why is it invisible to the 
Queen ? 

7. Does this visitation have any effect upon the after course 
of the play ? 

320 



Act IV, Scene 1. NoteS. 

8. Do you note any difference in Hamlet's speeches to his 
mother after the Ghost's appearance ? 

9. Hamlet offers a test to prove that he is not mad. What 
is this test ? Does it seem to you a sound one ? 

10. I must be cruel, only to be kind. 
Explain what this means. 

11. What is the effect of the interview upon the Queen? 

12. How did Hamlet know he was to be sent to England? 
What plans do you suppose he has in mind in lines 197-200? 



ACT IV 
Scene 1 

The first four scenes of this act are assigned by some scholars 
to Act III, as has been noted in the Introduction. If this di- 
vision be made, the Third Act covers the play, the death of 
Polonius and the departure of Hamlet for England, while the 
Fourth Act is. concerned with the madness of Ophelia, the news 
of Hamlet's escape and the death of Ophelia. 

The first scene is continuous with the last scene of the pre- 
ceding Act. The Queen is true to her word, and her explana- 
tion of Polonius"'s death shows that she upholds Hamlet's plan 
of pretended madness. 

4. Bestow this place on us a little while : The Queen politely 
asks that she and the King may be left alone together. 

7. Mad as the sea and wind. Compare " King Lear," IV. 
4. 1-2 : 

Why, he was met even now, 
As mad as the vexed sea. 
The Queen evidently does not intend to tell what really hap- 
pened between her and Hamlet. 

11. brainish apprehension : the delusion caused by his mad- 
ness. 

12. heavy: bitterly sad. 



13. us : the " royal we.' 



321 



Notes. Act IV, Scene 2. 



16. answered: explained. 

17. It will be laid to us : we shall be blamed for it. provi- 
dence : care, management. 

18. kept short : kept under control, out of haunt: away from 
the haunts of men. 

22. divulging: revealing itself . 

25. some ore : some vein of precious metal. 

26. mineral : mine. 

27. he weeps for what is done : Hamlet certainly showed 
no signs of weeping over Polonius. The Queen is trying to make 
his deed appear like the act of a real madman. 

32. countenance and excuse : take the responsibility of and 
find an excuse for, 

36. speak fair : talk to him carefully (as to a madman). 

40-44. " So perhaps slander, whose poisoned shot flies over the 
wide world as straight as a cannon-ball to its mark, may miss our 
name and hit the invulnerable air." 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Do you think this scene should form part of the preceding 
Act ? Give reasons for your reply. 

2. Discuss the significance of the Queen's explanation of the 
death of Polonius. 

3. What do you think the King's feelings to be, as judged by 
what he says? 

4. Is the Queen protecting Hamlet ? 

ACT IV 

Scene 2 

The attitude of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern has undergone 
a change. They are barely civil ; they regard Hamlet as al- 
ready in their power. Hamlet, however, still shows himself 
master of the situation and, in this and the following scene, has 
a " method in his madness " which the hearers find it difficult 
to cope with. 

322 



Act IV, Scene 3. NotCS. 

6. Compounded it with dust : buried it. Cf . : 

When I perhaps compounded am with clay. 

— Sonnet LXXI. 
Compound me with forgotten dust. 

— II Henry IV, IV. 5. 116. 

11, That I can keep your counsel and not mine own : Refer 
to II. 2. 285. Hamlet has not forgotten the treachery of these 
two who were once his friends. 

12. to be demanded of a sponge: to be questioned by a 
sponge, replication : reply. 

27-31. Hamlet here talks nonsense, in his character of mad- 
man. At the end of the scene, with the words " Hide fox, and 
all after," he runs off the stage, leaving the others to follow. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Why does Hamlet call Rosencrantz a "sponge" ? Is 
the term appropriate ? 

2. What evidence do you find, in this and the following scene, 
that Hamlet is acting the part of a madman? 

3. Do you note any change in the attitude of the two court- 
iers towards Hamlet? 

» 

ACT IV 

Scene 3 

The hypocrisy of the King and his fixed determination to have 
Hamlet killed are clearly brought out. 

3. the strong law : the full power of the law. 

4. the distracted multitude : Contemptuous — " the brainless 
mob." " We must not prosecute him according to law, for the 
thoughtless common people love him," They base their af- 
fection merely on what they can see ; and where this occurs the 
punishment of criminals is considered, but never the crimes for 
which they are punished. Is this true to-day? 

7. To bear all smooth and even: to make everything seem 
fitting and proper, 

9. deliberate pause : a step carefully thought out, 

323 



Notes. Act IV. Scene 3. 

2i. a convocation of politic worms : with obvious allusion to 
Polonius as a politician. 

24-26. variable service : a variety of dishes. 

26. A hypocritical expression of sorrow, assumed for the ben- 
efit of the bystanders. 

31. A " progress " was the term for a journey of state. 

41. tender : take care of, regard, dearly : most heartily. 

43. fiery quickness : hot haste. 

44. at help : in a favorable quarter. 

45. The associates tend : your companions wait for you. 
bent : prepared. 

48. We must suppose from this remark that Hamlet has some 
inkling of the King's plans. 

54. at foot : at the heel, closely. 

56-57. every thing . . . That else leans on the affair: 
everything else that has to do with the matter. 

58-65. An historical allusion preserved from the original story. 
The Danes had invaded England and imposed a tribute 
(Danegeld), which in time had been allowed to lapse. (See III. i. 
169-170.) But in spite of the cessation of the money payment, 
the English still feared the Danes. 

58. at aught: at any value. 

59. As my great power . . . sense : as thou hast learned 
by experience my power to enforce my demands. 

61. free awe : respect which needs no compulsion. 
62-63. " Thou mayest not treat with indifference the procedure 
which we lay upon thee." 

63. imports : signifies. 

64. conjuring: urging. 

65. present: instant, immediate. 

66. hectic: fever. 
68. haps : fortune. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. In his opening words, is the King speaking to himself, or 
does he mean his remarks for his attendants? Compare care- 
fully the closing lines of the scene. 

324 



Act IV, Scene 4. NoteS. 



2. Does Hamlet suspect the purposes of the King in sending 
him to England? What does he mean when he says: "I see 
a cherub that sees them"? 

3. The King says that Hamlet is " loved of the distracted 
multitude." What qualities does Hamlet possess that would 
endear him to the people ? 

4. The action of the play begins to move more rapidly in 
Scenes 2 and 3. Explain how this is managed. 

ACT IV 

Scene 4 

Fortinbras, the man of action, here appears momentarily on 
his way to Poland. At the end of the play he returns " in con- 
quest come from Poland." Hamlet perceives the contrast be- 
tween his own indecision and the strong, practical character of 
Fortinbras. 

2. license : permission. 

3. craves the conveyance : asks for leave to proceed. For 
the " promise," see II. 2. 76-80. 

6. in his eye :- in his presence. 

8. softly : slowly, gently. 

9. powers: forces. 

11, purposed: intended. 

15. the main of Poland : the country as a whole. 

17. with no addition : with no beating about the bush. 

20. ''I would not take the lease of it for as low a rent as five 
ducats." 

22. ranker: richer, sold in fee: sold for absolute posses- 
sion. 

25-26. " Two thousand men and twenty thousand ducats are 
not enough to settle this little question." 

27. the imposthume of much wealth and peace : the internal 
abscess caused by too much ease of life. 

32-66. This soliloquy shows Hamlet's keen self-analysis, as 
well as his habit of indulging in speculation. It shows, too, 

32s 



Notes. Act IV, Scene 4. 

that he envies those who have practical energy in working their 
plans out as deeds. 

34. chief good and market of his time : the principal end and 
aim of his existence, the business in which he employs his time. 

36. such large discotirse : such range of intellect. 

37. looking before and after: able to conjecture the future, 
as well as to remember the past. 

39. fust : grow stale. 

40. bestial oblivion: the forgetfulness characteristic of a 
mere animal. 

40-41. some craven scruple Of thinking too precisely on the 
event : some cowardly hesitation which results from thinking 
too particularly about what is going to happen. Hamlet 
thoroughly understands his own weakness. 

46. gross : large, obvious. 

47. mass and charge : size and expense. 

48. a delicate and tender prince : carefully educated and 
still in his early youth. 

54. argument : reason, occasion. 

61. " Led on by a vision of fame which is a mere fantasy that 
tricks the senses." 

62. plot : piece of ground. 

63-65. "Which is too small to give the soldiers room to fight in: 
too small even to hold the bodies of the dead." continent: 
holder, container. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Why is Fortinbras introduced at this stage of the play? 

2. To what previous scene do the events here portrayed point back ? 

3. Show how the character of Hamlet is brought out by con- 
trast. 

4. Make an abstract of the soliloquy, lines 32-66. In what 
respects does it resemble the other soliloquy, beginning, " To 
be, or not to be, that is the question "? Can you form an esti- 
mate of Hamlet's character from the two speeches? 

5. Has Hamlet worked out any definite plan of action at the end 
of this scene ? If not, what do you take to be his frame of mind ? 

326 



Act IV, Scene 5. Notes. 



ACT IV 

Scene 5 

This is the scene which has been suggested as the beginning of 
the Fourth Act. The reason for Ophelia's madness is the death 
of her father, but the apparent insanity of Hamlet and his cruelty 
to her must have been a contributing cause. Her mind was 
weak and yielding, as is readily seen in the placid manner in 
which she agrees to take a part in the treacherous plans of the 
crafty old Polonius. The scene itself is marked by extreme 
pathos; it shows one of the dreadful irrevocable situations which 
Shakespeare always develops in so masterly a way. Note, too, 
the dramatic contrast between this pathetic real madness and 
the assumed bitter madness of Hamlet. 

Laertes returns from France, having heard of his father's death, 
and is easily turned by the King (in this scene and Scene 7) to a 
murderous plot against Hamlet. He is a youth of high spirit, 
but no match for the craft of the King. 

1. These first words of the Queen are to be taken as part of 
a conversation which was begun off stage. She has been labor- 
ing under a severe -nervous strain since the conversation with 
Hamlet, and does not feel equal to meeting the daughter of the 
murdered Polonius. Hence her remark : " I will not speak with 
her." 

2. importunate : insistent, determined, distract : distraught, 
distracted. 

6. Spurns enviously at straws : In her madness she conceives 
hatred for the most trivial things. 

7-9. her speech . . , collection : Her speech has no sense, 
yet its very disjointedness leads people to try to put it together 
and get some meaning out of it. 

9. aim: guess. 

10. botch the words up fit : Put the words together anyhow 
to make them tally with their own thoughts. 

11-13. Perhaps this cautious gentleman is afraid of saying 
something which ought not to be said. The intended mean- 



Notes. Act IV, Scene 5. 



ing is : " Her words and gestures lead one to infer that some 
great misfortune has befallen her." 

14-15. This cold and calculating remark does not sound like 
the frank Horatio. Perhaps he is circumspect in the presence 
of the Queen. 

18. Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss: Every 
trifle seems prelude to some great disaster. '• 

19. artless jealousy : suspicion that has not the art to con- 
ceal itself: " Guilt is so preoccupied with suspicion that it fails 
to guard against betraying itself." 

23. The music of Ophelia's songs has been handed down by 
tradition in practically the same form as used in Shakespeare's 
day. It is folly to look for any meaning in these pathetic 
utterances — though the commentators have tried to explain 
what she says. She speaks of death and she speaks of love, but 
in her lost mind there is no reason or congruity. As to the mat- 
ter of the songs, it consists of half-remembered ballads heard, 
perhaps, in childhood. 

25. cockle hat and staff : the dress of a pilgrim. A " cockle 
hat " was a hat with a scallop shell stuck in it to show that the 
wearer had been on pilgrimage. 

26. shoon : old plural form for " shoes." 
37. larded : decked, garnished. 

40. Even the wicked King is affected. 

41. God 'ild you : God reward you. 

41-42. They say the owl was a baker's daughter: a reference 
to an old Gloucestershire tale — how our Saviour, asking for 
bread, was rudely received by the baker's daughter, whom he 
punished by changing her into an owl. The words that follow 
are suggested by the recollection of the story. 

44. Conceit upon her father : " Thinking of her father has 
caused this." 

61-62. " Misfortunes never come singly." 

64. remove : removal. 

64-65. muddied. Thick and unwholesome : stirred up and 
yielding to ugly rumors about the death of Polonius. 

66. greenly : foolishly, as in experienced people might do. 

328 



Act IV, Scene 5. NotCS. 

67. In hugger-mugger to inter him : to bury him secretly and 
in haste. 

70. as much containing : as important. 

72. keeps himself in clouds : keeps secret his intentions. 

73. wants not buzzers : has no lack of whisperers. 

75. " These buzzers of evil speeches, although theve is no ground 
of truth, will not hesitate to accuse us in every ear they meet." 

78. murdering-piece : a small cannon loaded with bullets, 
which scattered when fired. 

80. my Switzers : my personal bodyguard of Swiss soldiers. 
The King used hired foreign soldiers (" mercenaries ") for his 
personal protection. The custom was common throughout Europe 
at the time, the theory being that a foreign body of troops paid di- 
rectly by the King would be more reliable than native soldiers in 
the event of rebellion or mob violence. The French king first 
employed Scottish archers (see Scott's " Quentin Durward ") ; these 
were succeeded by the Swiss Guard, which lasted through the 
Revolution of 1789. When the royal palace of the Tuileries 
was stormed by the mob the Swiss Guard were true to their 
trust and stayed at their post until every man was killed. A 
survival of the old custom is seen to-day in the Swiss body- 
guard of the Pope. 

93. this is counter: Hunting dogs are said to " run coun- 
ter " when they follow a false scent. 

95. this king : Note the scorn of the phrase. 

105. do not fear our person : do not fear for me. The Queen 
has thrown herself between Laertes and the King. 

106. hedge : protect, encompass. 

112. his fill : to his heart's content, as much as he likes. 

113-119. The vigor of Laertes is in strong contrast to the 
vacillation of Hamlet. But the King, while seeming to meet 
his wrath fairly, guides it very skillfuly according to his own de- 
vices. 

117. " I don't care for this world or the world to come." 

119. throughly: thoroughly, stay: stop. 

120. " My own will and nothing else." 

121. husband: manage. 



Notes. Act iV, Scene 5. 

125. " Is your revenge to be like a gambler's sweepstakes, and 
draw everything from the board ? Are you determined to involve 
both friend and foe in your revenge?" 

129. life-rendering pelican : an allusion to the old belief that 
the pelican fed its young with its own blood. 

130. repast: feed. 

133. sensibly : feelingly, keenly. 

138. sense and virtue : feeling and power. 

140. rose: See III. i. 152, III. 4. 42. 

144-145. fine : delicate, tender, instance : proof, example. 
Ophelia's sanity had followed her father to the grave. 

148. Hey non nonny: refrains without meaning, such as 
were common in the ballads of Shakespeare's day. 

155. O, how the wheel becomes it ! This has never been sat- 
isfactorily explained. Perhaps these are old-fashioned ballads 
which Ophelia has heard as a child to the hum of her nurse's 
spinning-wheel. 

157. This nothing's more than matter: Her meaningless 
little songs are more pitiful than any sense could be. 

158. rosemary : See " The Winter's Tale," IV. 3. 74-76 : 

For you there 's rosemary and rue, these keep 
Seeming and savor all the winter long : 
Grace and remembrance be to you both ! 

159. pansies: From the French pensees. Rosemary and 
pansies are given to Laertes. 

160. " A lesson in wisdom by a witless person." 

162. There 's fennel for you and columbines : the one for flat- 
tery the other for faithlessness. These to the King. 

163. there 's rue for you : She gives rue to the Queen ; it was 
for repentance. 

164. you must wear your rue with a difference: "Differ- 
ence " was a term in heraldry meaning the slight change in a 
coat of arms made to distinguish one branch of a family from 
another. Ophelia means that she and the Queen had different 
causes of "ruth." "For you it signifies repentance, for me only 
regret." 



Act IV, Scene 5. NotCS. 

166. There 's a daisy : The daisy was for deceit. She gives 
it to the Queen. 

165-166. I would give you some violets : The flower stood for 
faithfulness. Probably spoken to Horatio. 

168. bonny sweet Robin: from an old Elizabethan ballad. 

170. favor : charm. 

183. commune with : share. 

185. " Make choice of any of your wisest friends you like." 

187. collateral : indirect. " Directly or indirectly.'' 

188. touched : implicated. The King is sure of himself and 
bends all his energies to stir Laertes against Hamlet. It is, in- 
deed, an excellent opportunity for him. 

194. means of death : cause of his death. 

195. hatchment : The coat of arms hung over the tomb of a 
dead knight. 

196. noble rite : rites fitting for a nobleman, formal osten- 
tation : funeral observance according to proper form. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Why does the Queen at first refuse to speak with Ophelia? 
Why does she finally consent to see her? 

2. Trace the causes that led to the madness of Ophelia. Are 
they reflected in what she says ? 

3. When sorrows come, they come not single spies, 

But in battalions. 
Comment upon these words. Are they true? Do they re- 
mind you of any proverb ? 

4. Show how, at this stage of the action. Fate seems to be 
moving against the King. 

5. What dramatic purpose is served by the appearance of 
Laertes? 

6. What remark shows the Queen's loyalty to the King? 

7. Point out the contrast here afforded between the charac- 
ters of Laertes and Hamlet. 

8. What new light is thrown upon the King's character when 
Laertes bursts in on him at the head of the mob ? 

331 



Notes. ' Act IV, Scene 6. 



ACT IV 

Scene 6 

This scene keeps us in touch with Hamlet's affairs. The ac- 
tion is practically continuous with the scenes that precede and 
follow. 

6-11. Shakespeare's touch is always sure. Note here, how- 
even in the minor character of the sailor, the bluff, straightfor-- 
ward speech is characteristic. 

11. let to know : given to understand. 

13. means to the king : means of access. 

15. appointment : equipment. 

16-17. we put on a compelled valor : we fought because we 
had to. 

19. thieves of mercy : merciful thieves. 

20. they knew what they did : probably Hamlet found means 
to bribe the pirates. 

24-25. much too light for the bore of the matter : words are too 
feeble to express the seriousness of my news. They are like 
small shot in a gun of large calibre. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What caused the failure of the King's plot against the life 
of Hamlet? 

2. What do you suppose to be the " good turn " which Ham- 
let says he will do for the pirates? 

3. What is the real purpose of this scene ? 

ACT IV 

Scene 7 

The dramatic structure of this scene is very interesting. We 
first see the King carefully feeling his way with Laertes and 
hinting at revenge for his father's death. Suddenly comes the 
news of Hamlet's return and there is need for instant action. 
With only a momentary hesitation, the King moves straight to 

332 



Act IV, Scene 7. NoteS. 

the point, and outlines a plan whereby both shall be satisfied — 
Laertes in his revenge and the King himself in his hatred. 
Laertes falls readily into the snare. He has a naturally hot 
temper and his sense of honor and fair play has been undermined 
by his life in France (see II. i). We are not surprised to find 
him willing not only to obtain a fatal advantage over Hamlet, 
but even to " anoint " his sword to make assurance doubly 
sure. To this the King adds the idea of the " poisoned chalice." 
Then comes the news of Ophelia's death. The Queen is deeply 
affected, Laertes is broken-hearted ; but to the King it is merely 
an incident which may upset his careful plans. In this spirit 
he hurries after Laertes. 

1. conscience : knowledge, understanding, my acquittance 
seal : certify that I am free from guilt. The King has told 
Laertes about his father's death at the hands of Hamlet. 

10. unsinewed : weak, nerveless. 

13. be it either which : whichever of the two it be. 

15. in his sphere : A reference to Ptolemaic system of as- 
tronomy, generally held in Shakespeare's day. According to 
this system, the universe was composed of ten hollow spheres, 
one within another. The first seven of these spheres contained 
the seven planets ; the eighth, the fixed stars. Outside were the 
" Crystalline Sphere " and the " Primum Mobile." Shake- 
speare's plays contain many allusions to the spheres. 

17. to a public count : to a public lawsuit. 

18. general gender : common people. 

20. Several of these springs were known in England at this 
time. 

21. Convert his gyves to graces : change his fetters into 
badges of honor. They would like him all the better for his 
chains. 

22. Too slightly timbered : made of too light wood. 

26. desperate terms : " desperate straits." 

27. if praises may go back again : if I may praise what she 
used to be. 

28. challenger on mount : read as if a compound noun. 

333 



Notes. Act IV, Scene 7. 

33. You shortly shall hear more : The King expects soon to learn 
of the success of his plot against Hamlet. Just at this moment, 
however, by the irony of fate, news comes of Hamlet's escape. 

43-47. The flippant tone of the letter is worthy of note, naked : 
unarmed. 

50. abuse : delusion, cheat. 

51. character : handwriting. For the moment the Ring is 
utterly at a loss. " Can you advise me?" 

58. As how should it be so ? how otherwise ? Spoken very 
deliberately, with long pauses. The speaker is studying the 
mystery. His whole scheme has to be reorganized, and his next 
words show that a new plan has already occurred to him. 

62. checking at his voyage : giving it up for something else. 
The term is taken from the sport of falconry, where a hawk 
was said to " check " when she left the game she was flown at to 
pursue some other bird. 

64. ripe in my device : ready in my mind. The King has 
made his plan. 

67. uncharge the practice : make no accusation against the plot. 

70. organ : instrument, falls : happens. 

73. parts : qualities, attainments. 

76. unworthiest siege : least worthy rank. 

80. sables : sober garments, weeds : robes. 

81. importing health and graveness : denoting well-being and 
gravity. 

84. can well : can do well. 

85 had witchcraft in 't : in his horsemanship. 

87-88. As he had been incorpsed and demi-natured With the 
brave beast : " As if he had been one with it in body, and half in 
mind as well." 

88-90. " His figures and tricks went beyond all that my imagi- 
nation could invent." 

93. brooch : Brooches were at one time worn in the cap, and 
hence were very conspicuous. 

95. He made confession of you : He told about you. " Con- 
fession," because Lamond would be reluctant to admit that 
Laertes was superior to his own countrymen 

334 



Act IV, Scene 7. NotCS. 

96. a masterly report : a report of Laertes as a master of fenc- 
ing. 

100. scrimers : fencers. 

105. play with him : engage in a friendly fencing-match. 
Hamlet is not merely a dreamer and thinker ; he has athletic 
tastes, and the King proposes to utilize these to bring about his 
death. The somewhat lengthy speeches of the King will repay 
careful reading. He first praises Lamond, then subtly flatters 
Laertes and finally suggests the possibility of his meeting Ham- 
let. 

106. A' significant pause on the King's part. Bad as he is, 
he hesitates before actually suggesting deliberate and treacherous 
murder. Note how carefully he unfolds his plan. 

110. " I don't think 3'-ou didn't love 3^our father; but, after all, love 
is a thing of time — it does not last forever, as I can see in occurrences 
that prove what I say." The King skillfully hints that Laertes' 
affection for his father is not so keen as it used to be — nothing 
remains always at its height. If we wish to do a thing, we 
ought to do it at once ; for the intention is changed by all sorts 
of delays or accidents, and then the regretful "I should have 
done it" is all that is left. "Hamlet is coming back," he 
concludes. " What would you do if you really loved your father? " 

111. love is begun by time : love is measured by time. 

112. in passages of proof : occurrences that prove what I say. 

116. nothing is at a like goodness still : nothing remains con- 
stantly at the same degree of excellence. 

117. plurisy : excess, plethora. A mistaken use of the word, 
not infrequent in dramatists of the time. 

122. spendthrift sigh, That hurts by easing : The old idea was 
that every sigh caused a loss of blood, and hurt the vital powers. 

" The mere recognition of a duty without the will to perform it, 
whUe it satisfies for the moment, really enfeebles the moral nature !" 

127. No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize : No place 
should give protection to a murderer (like Hamlet). In those 
days a criminal might "take sanctuary", i.e., take refuge in a 
church. He was then immune from capture or punishment. 

133. in fine : at last. 

335 



Notes. Act IV, Scene 7. 

134. remiss : careless, indifferent. 

135. contriving: plotting, 

136. peruse : examine. 

138. unbated : not blunted, without the button on the point, 
as always used in friendly bouts, a pass of practice : a treacher- 
ous thrust. 

141. an unction from a mountebank: an ointment from a. 
quack doctor. " Mountebank" is from the Italian montam- 
hanco, a " mount-on-bench," the bench being the platform 
from which the quack doctor spoke. 

142. mortal : deadly. 

143. cataplasm: plaster. 

144. simples : herbs, virtue : healing virtue. 

150. fit us to our shape : enable us to act our proposed part. 
151-152. " If our intention shows because of our bad perform- 
ance it would be better not to try it." 

154. blast in proof : like a cannon which bursts upon being 
tested. 

155. your cunnings : your respective skills. 

156. I ha 't : I have it ! The completion of this treacherous 
plan suddenly flashes into the King's mind. 

158. As : and so, for so. 

160. A chalice for the nonce : a cup for the special occasion. 

161. stuck: thrust, stroke. 

166. aslant : across. 

167. hoar leaves : referring to the silver-gray underside of 
willow-leaves. 

169. crow-flowers : buttercups. long purples : the early 
purple orchis which blossoms in April and May. 

172. coronet weeds : crown of flowers. 

173. sliver: a branch " slivered," or stripped off. 

178. incapable : insensible, unable to realize. 

179. indued : suited. 
187. trick: habit. 

189. The woman will be out : The womanish weakness in me 
will be over. 

191. douts : puts out, extinguishes. 

336 



Act V, Scene 1. , Notes. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. In this scene the King meets with two unexpected reverses. 
Explain what these are, and show how the King adjusts his plans 
to the changed conditions. 

2. What can you say about the tone of Hamlet's letter? 

3. Trace the steps by which the King unfolds his plan to 
Laertes. Why is he so slow in coming to the point ? 

4. Analyze the characters of the two men, as revealed in 
Scenes 6 and 7. Which appears to you to be the more treach- 
erous? 

5. The Queen describes Ophelia's death in a passage of great 
poetic beauty. What advantage is gained here by this method 
of description? 

6. What tragic occurrences have so far taken place? Show 
how they rise inevitably from the conditions of the play. 

ACT V 

Scene 1 

The first part of this scene serves to afford " dramatic relief " 
after the intense emotion of the last Act. The conversation 
between the Clowns is an excellent example of Shakespeare's 
power of portraying the uneducated mind; First Clown rather 
fancies himself as a witty fellow, and his dialogue with Hamlet 
is a little masterpiece. The moralizing of Hamlet carries for- 
ward the action to the solemnity of Ophelia's burial and the 
horror of the fight in the grave. 

4. straight : at once, right away, crowner : coroner. The 
finding of the coroner was that Ophelia should not be treated as 
a suicide, but should have ordinary Christian burial. 

8. 't is found so : by the coroner's jury. 

9. 'se offendendo ' : clown Latin for " se defendendo," in 
self-defense. 

11. an act hath three branches: legal phraseology filtered 
through the Clown's wit. 



Notes. Act V, Scene 1. 

12. argal : Ergo, " therefore," is the word meant. 

14. delver: digger. 

22. crowner's quest : coroner's inquest. 

25. out o' Christian burial : without the rites of the Church. 

26. there thou say'st : there you 're right, "you said it." 

27. countenance : favor, encouragement. 

28. even Christian : fellow Christian. 
30. hold up : maintain. 

39-40. confess thyself — Go to: First Clown was going to 
say: " Confess thyself and be hanged," but Second Clown inter- 
rupts him with : " Ah, get out ! " 

52. unyoke : equivalent to " consider your day's work done." 

59. doomsday : the day of Judgment, when the graves give 
up their dead. See Revelation xx. 12 : "I saw the dead, small 
and great, stand before God." 

60. Yaughan : probably the name of an ale-house keeper 
near the Globe Theatre. The audience would be delighted 
with the local touch, stoup : cup. 

61. The verses that the Clown sings are confused memories 
of a song called The Aged Lover Renounceth Love, from a popular 
collection called Tottell's Miscellany (1557). The " O " and 
" ah " are grunts as he throws up the earth with his shovel. 

67. " Habit has made it easy to him — a sort of second nature." 
" Habit has made it natural to him to take his employment 
easily." 

73. intil the land : into the earth. 

76. jowls . bumps, throws carelessly. 

78. politician : plotter, schemer. Always used by Shake- 
speare in this sense, o'erreaches : outwits. 

79. circumvent : cheat. 

87. chapless : jawless. mazzard : a slang term for the head. 
Literally: "goblet." 

88. trick: skill, faculty, art. 

90. loggats : a game somewhat resembling bowls, but played 
on a floor instead of a green. The loggats themselves were 
pear-shaped pieces of wood, about twenty-seven inches long, 
which were thrown at a " jack." 

338 



Act V, Scene 1. Notes. 

95. Hamlet's speech over the skull of the lawyer is full of 
technical law terms. How does it happen that a Prince of Den- 
mark is so familiar with legal phraseology? 

96. quiddities : fine-drawn distinctions. 

97. quillets : quibbles. 

99. sconce: head — another bit of slang. 

100-102. All these terms relate to the purchase or ownership 
of land. 

103-104. " Is this the end {finis, finish) of his fines, and the 
recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine-distinguishing head full 
of fine dirt ? ' ' 

106. a pair of indentures: Indentures always went in pairs. 
An indenture was a compact or agreement written in duplicate 
on the same sheet of paper. The paper (or parchment) was cut 
in two along a crooked or " indented " line, so that the fitting 
together of the parts would prove that both were genuine in case 
of dispute. 

107-108. The very conveyances of his lands will hardly lie in 
this box : the very deeds of his lands are almost too bulky for 
this grave, inheritor: possessor. 

113. assurance : security — with a play upon the legal mean- 
ing of the word. " They are fools who strive by such means to 
make the ownership of property secure against death." 

125. the quick : the living. 

136. absolute : positive, dogmatic, precise. 

136-137. speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us : 
speak carefully, lest the double meaning of words cause us to be 
completely misunderstood. The " card " was the chart used 
on ship-board, and was, of course, marked out very exactly. 

139. picked : smart, affected. 

140. kibe : chilblain, or sore on the heel. 

160-161. I have been sexton here, man and boy, thirty years : 
This passage, together with the Clown's remark that he became 
sexton on the very day of Hamlet's birth, gives a perfectly def- 
inite age for Hamlet in the play. A good deal has been written 
on the subject — some critics would make him much younger 
than is indicated here. But it would seem that Shakespeare 

339 



Notes. ^^^^^^^^^P Act V, Scene 



has clearly settled the matter by three references in this scene — 
the two just mentioned, and the later remark about Yorick 
(line 172). 

170. Note the colloquial use of " your." 

179. Rhenish : red wine. 

204. curiously : fancifully. 

205-206. " To follow him thither would be quite a reasonable 
inquiry, along the lines of probability." 

208. loam: clay. 

211. imperious : imperial. 

214. flaw : gust of wind. 

216. who is this they follow? Hamlet knows nothing of the 
fate of Ophelia ; the situation is not clear to him. He looks on 
with only a general interest until Laertes mentions "my sister." 
Then he cries out in heart-broken fashion : " What, the fair 
Ophelia ! " 

217. maimed : imperfect, curtailed. 

219. Fordo : destroy, estate : rank. 

220. Couch we awhile : let us hide for a moment. 

223. A very noble youth : Hamlet has no quarrel with Laertes 
and is ignorant of any wrong done to Ophelia. 

224. enlarged : extended as far as we have permission to go. 
Ophelia has some form of funeral service, though not the com- 
plete one. 

226. but that great command o'ersways the order : " had not 
the King compelled us to override the rule of the Church which 
forbids Christian burial to suicides." 

227. ground unsanctified : outside the sacred precincts of 
the graveyard. 

230. Grants : garlands carried before a maiden's coffin, strew- 
ments : the strewing of flowers upon her. 

231-232. the bringing home Of bell and burial : the bringing 
of the dead maiden to her last home with bell and burial. 

235. requiem : hymn for the dead, peace-parted souls : souls 
that have departed in peace. 

238. churlish : harsh, rude. 

246. ingenious : intelligent, keen. 



Act V, Scene 1. Notes. 

251-252. Pelion, Olympus were mountains in Thessaly, famil- 
iar in mythology. 

254. the wandering stars : the planets. 

259. splenitive : hot-tempered. 

265. wag : move. 

267-268. For the moment Hamlet forgets everything except 
his love for Ophelia. The shock of his grief leads to the " wild 
and whirling words " of the next few lines. But he recovers 
himself with the scornful — "Nay, an thou 'It mouth, I '11 rant as 
well as thou." And he shows (in lines 286-288) that he is puz- 
zled and deeply hurt by Laertes' attitude. 

271. forbear: bear with him. 

273. woo 't: wilt thou. 

274. eisel : vinegar. 

285. golden couplets : when her two young ones with their 
golden down upon them are hatched. "Couplets," because 
pigeons lay only two eggs at a time. 

286-288. Note the pathos of the lines. Laertes was a friend 
whom Hamlet loved and might have hoped to keep, "but 't is 
no matter." The fatalism of this phrase is borne out in the two 
succeeding lines : " things have their appointed course ; we have no 
power to divert it." 

293. We 'II put the matter to the present push : We '11 get to 
work at once and decide the matter. 

295. living monument: everlasting monument. He hints 
also at the impending sacrifice of Hamlet. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What is the object of introducing the two Clowns at this 
point? Does their conversation add anything to the play? 

2. Discuss the " emotional content " of this scene, noting 
particularly the shift in dramatic appeal. 

3. What is a " crowner's quest"? 

4. Can you assign definite reasons for the appearance of 
Hamlet and Horatio ? 

5. Is any new side of Hamlet's character brought out in his 
conversation with Horatio ? Answer fully. 

341 



Notes. Act V, Scene 2. 



6. What facts can be gleaned in this Act, as well as in other 
Acts, as to Hamlet's age? See, for example, I. 3. 124; II. 2. 
10-14 ; V. I. 144-161. 

7. Explain why Ophelia was buried with "maimed rites." 

8. When did Hamlet first learn of Ophelia's death? 

9. I tell thee, churlish priest, 

A ministering angel shall my sister be, 
When thou liest howling. 
Explain this passage. 

10. Why does Harriet declare his love for Ophelia? Compare 
III. I. 1 16-120. 

11. What are his feelings towards Laertes? See lines 221-222 
and 252-290, 

ACT V 

Scene 2 

The early portion of this remarkable scene gives us the neces- 
sary information about Hamlet's experiences on his uncom- 
pleted voyage to England. We then see another side of his 
character in the interview with the foppish Osric. This lighter 
moment, however, merges into the terrible gloom of the close — 
a gloom which is heightened by the tragic pathos of Hamlet's 
remark: "Thou wouldst not think how ill all 's here about my 
heart: but it is no matter." None the less, at the end we note 
the dawn of a brighter day for Denmark in the coming of young 
Fortinbras — the man of sane and rational action and feeling. 

1. The scene opens — as often in the plays — with the speakers 
in the midst of a conversation. 

6. mutines in the bilboes : mutineers in fetters. Bilboes 
were stocks or fetters used on ship-board, made of an iron bar 
with rings attached in which the prisoners' legs were set. The 
word is derived from Bilbao in Spain, long famous for its iron 
and steel. 

7. know: acknpwledge, recognize. The lines 7-1 1 are par- 
enthetical, and might be set off by parentheses, 

342 



Act V, Scene 2. NotCS. 



9. pall: lose vigor, turn stale. 

10-11. A famous passage. "Rough-hew" means to make the 
first, or rough, cast of any piece of work. 

13. My sea-gown scarfed about me : my boat-cloak thrown 
loosely around my shoulders. 

21. importing: seriously concerning, health: welfare. 

22. such bugs and goblins in my life : such dreadful conse- 
quences to follow if I remained alive. " Bugs " were bugbears, 
objects of terror. 

23. on the supervise, no leisure bated: on the first glance 
through the letter, with no intermission whatever. 

31. they: i.e., the brains. His mind began to work at once. 

32. fair: neatly. 

33. statists : statesmen. 

34. A baseness to write fair: "Most of the great men of 
Shakespeare's time, whose autographs have been preserved, 
wrote very bad hands ; their secretaries very good ones." 

36. yeoman's service : good, faithful service, such as was 
rendered in war by the yeomen who made up the mass of the 
army. See "Henry V," III. i. 25 ff. : 

And you, good yeomen, 
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here 
The mettle of your pasture. 

37. Conjuration : admonition. 

38. tributary : another reference to the Danegeld. See note, 
page 324. 

42. stand a comma 'tween their amities : a link of affection 
between them. The comma, as opposed to the period, is used 
as a sign of connection, not separation. 

46. sudden : unprepared. 

47. shriving time : time to confess their sins and receive 
forgiveness. 

48. ordinant : guiding, ruling. 

49. signet : signet-ring. 

50. model : exact copy. 
54. sequent: following. 

343 



Notes. . Act V, Scene 2. 

66. go to 't: go to their death. Almost equivalent to our 
modern slang: " Get theirs." 

58-59. " I feel no compunction on their account; they brought 
their destruction (defeat) upon themselves by worming their way 
into my affairs." 

60-62. " Between the thrusting blades and deadly furious points 
of mighty opponents." 

62. Horatio's remark bursts from him as he comes to the end 
of the commission which Hamlet gave him to read, 

63. Does it not . . . stand me now upon? Is it not incum- 
bent upon me ? 

65. Popped in between the election and my hopes : cut me 
out of being king, as I had hoped to be. One of the very few 
references made by Hamlet to his loss through the usurpation 
of his uncle. 

66. " Plotted against my very life." angle : fishing-tackle. 

67. cozenage: deceit, treachery. 

•68. quit him : requite him, pay him back. 

69. canker : destructive element. 

70. In: into. 

71-74. Horatio suggests that the King will soon learn about 
the death of his two messengers. In reply, Hamlet grimly 
hints that in any case there will be time enough to accomplish 
his business Note the force of the quiet words : "the interim 
is mine." 

75; Hamlet's generous regret for his harshness towards 
Laertes throws into darker shadow the treachery of Laertes and 
the King. 

78. court his favors : try to win his friendship. 

79. the bravery of his grief: the loud and extravagant dis- 
play of his sorrow. 

84. water-fly : " A water-fly skips up and down upon the 
surface of the water without any apparent purpose or reason, 
and hence is the proper emblem of a busy trifler." (Johnson.) 
Osric is a type of the empty-headed courtier, the idle man-about- 
town. Hamlet converses with him in his own vein, while Ho- 
ratio stands by much amused. The interruption doubtless 

344 



Act V, Scene 1, NoteS. 

comes as a relief to the two friends. In the whole passage Shake- 
speare ridicules a form of the affected speech of the day, which 
was known as " Euphuism." Other parodies are found in 
"Love's Labour's Lost" and "All's Well That Ends Well." 

89. chough : According to a dictionary of Shakespeare's day, 
a " chough " was " a boor, lobcock, lozell; one that is fitter to 
feed with cattle than to converse with men." 

96. Hamlet amuses himself with Osric's shallow inconsist- 
ency. Compare III. 2 351-357- 

100. complexion : temperament, disposition. 

108. absolute : perfect, faultless, most excellent differences : 
a most distinguished person. 

109. very soft society and great showing : of perfect breeding 
and elegant manners. 

110. feelingly : with insight, the card or calendar of gentry : 
" the general preceptor of elegance ; the card by which a gentle- 
man is to direct his course ; the calendar by which he is to choose 
his time, that what he does may be both excellent and season- 
able." (Johnson.) 

111-112. Laertes comprises in himself, like a complete map, 
every accomplishment which a gentleman should look for. 

113. his definement suffers no perdition in you : his defini- 
tion loses nothing in your mouth. 

113-120. Hamlet parodies the affected speech of Osric and 
succeeds in beating him in his own language. Osric becomes 
confused, perhaps conscious that Hamlet is making fun of him, 
but unable to answer in kind. The general meaning of Hamlet's 
extravagant remarks is clearer to us than it was to the bewil- 
dered courtier. 

114. to divide him inventorially . . his quick sail: "To 
try to make an inventory of his qualities and add them up would 
dizzy the memory, and yet this would be so far from keeping 
pace with his qualities that it would seem merely to roll about 
(yaw) in comparison with such a fast sailer as he is." 

116, in the verity of extolment : to praise him truly. 

117. of great article : i.e., it takes a great many items to 
make-up the list of his perfections. 

345 



Notes. Act V, Scene 2. 



117-118. infusion of such dearth and rareness : natural char- 
acter so scarce and rare. 

119-120. his semblable is his mirror . . . nothing more : 

nothing shows anything like him except his looking-glass. Any- 
one who tries to follow him is merely his shadow. 

122-123. "How does this concern us? Why do we mention 
this cultured gentleman with our uncultured tongues?" 

125-126. Horatio taunts Osric with not understanding his own 
language ' when another man speaks it. "Try hard," he adds. 
" You '11 do it in time." 

127. " What is your idea in naming this gentleman? " 

135. approve me : commend me. 

140-143. " In the opinion of the people of the court, he gets 
more praise than anybody else." 

148. imponed ; staked, " put up." 

149. assigns : appendages, belongings. 

150. hangers : the straps that attach the sword to the girdle. 
152. liberal conceit : elaborate design. 

154-155. "I knew you would have to consult the notes." Ex- 
planatory notes used to be printed in the margin (margent). 

157. german : akin, appropriate. 

163-167. As far as can be seen from Osric's rather confused 
statement, it would seem that the King's Barbary horses are to 
go to Laertes if he makes twelve hits before Hamlet makes nine ; 
but that Hamlet, to get the French swords has only to make 
nine hits before Laertes makes twelve. 

167-168. By " answer " Osric means " encounter." Hamlet 
makes a punning reply. 

172. the breathing-time of day: the time for exercise and 
relaxation.. 

176. re-deliver: report. 

180. Hamlet is becoming impatient with Osric's affectations. 
"Yours, yours" is his curt rejoinder to the young courtier's elab- 
orate farewell. 

182. lapwing : young lapwings were said to be in such haste 
to be hatched that they ran away with the shell on their heads. 
The word is used of a forward, conceited fellow. 



Act V, Scene 2. Notes. 



183. " He was a courtier in his cradle." 

185. drossy; mixed with impurities, worthless. 

186. got the tune of the time and outward habit of encounter : 
learned fine speech enough to be able to talk superficially in the 
fashionable style. 

186-189. " A kind of frothy and superficial knowledge, gathered 
in fragments, which causes them to take up the most foolish and 
empty opinions : and they are such bubbles that if you but blow 
them, they burst." 

190. commended him : commended himself. 

193. to play : i.e., to fence. 

198. In happy time. " Good ! " 

203. at the odds : with the advantage given me. 

205-206. Here, and in the conversation that follows, Hamlet 
has some sad presentiment of evil to come. Note Horatio's im- 
mediate eager and kindly offer of help. 

208. gaingiving : misgiving, uneasiness, 

211. forestall their repair : prevent their approach. 

212. augury: forebodings. 

212-213. there 's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow : 
See Matthew x. 21 : '' Are not two sparrows sold for a far- 
thing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your 
Father." The whole speech is fatalistic and thoroughly in 
keeping with the character of Hamlet. 

213-217. " If death is to come now, it will not come in the future ; 
if it is to come in the future, it will not come now ; in any case, it 
will come some time ; to be ready for it when it does come, that 's 
everything. Since we can take nothing with us when we leave this 
world, what does it matter when we leave? " 

219-237. Hamlet has always liked Laertes and makes a hand- 
some apology. 

221. this presence : those here present. 

224. exception: objection. We still say "to take excep- 
tion " to a thing, 

234, " My denial of any intentional wrong to you," 

237-244. The reply of Laertes seems somewhat stilted and 
insincere after the frank avowal of Hamlet. 

347 



Notes. Act V, Scene 2. 

242. a voice and precedent of peace : an opinion and prece- 
dent which will justify me in making peace. 

243. ungored : unwounded. 

248. foil: used with play upon its two senses: (i) blunted 
rapier, and (2) gold-leaf used to set off a jewel. 

256. he is bettered : he has the better reputation. 

258. have all a length : are all the same length. 

260. stoups of wine : cups of wine. 

262. quit in answer of the third exchange : pay off Laertes in 
the third bout for any hiV received in the first or second. 

265. union : an especially fine pearl. 

268. kettle: kettle-drum. 

273. They play: Laertes is using an "unbated foil" — a foil 
with the protective button removed from the point and one 
which in addition is poisoned. He must be careful not to touch 
Hamlet too soon. The King attempts to make Hamlet drink 
the poisoned wine, but Hamlet twice refuses. Thereupon 
Laertes decides to do his part ; though with some slight com- 
punction because of his adversary's friendliness and courtesy 
as well as his complete ignorance of any treachery. The athlete 
in Laertes revolts against foul play towards one who is bearing 
himself so skillfully in fair fight. 

275. this pearl is thine : The King poisons the wine ; prob- 
ably by dissolving a false pearl with poison inside it. 

280. fat, and scant of breath: "Fat" may mean merely 
" out of training." It is said, however, that these words were 
inserted to suit the person of Richard Burbage, the actor who 
first played the part. 

281. napkin: handkerchief. 
290. dally : waste time. 

292. you make a wanton of me : you are merely playing with 
me, you trifle with me as if I were a child. 

They change rapiers : There are three ways in which this ac- 
tion may be carried out. (i) Laertes tries to disarm Hamlet 
by seizing the hilt of his sword at close quarters. Hamlet does 
the same, and the two exchange weapons. (2) Both swords 
are knocked out of their hands, and in the confusion each picks 

348 



VctV, Scene2. NoteS. 

up his opponent's. (3) Laertes drops his sword ; Hamlet puts 
his foot on it and offers his own and then picks up the other. 
The last is the method followed by several of the best actors. 

299. as a woodcock to mine own springe : like a decoy caught 
in my own trap. Woodcocks were used as decoys and occasion- 
ally got caught in the snare themselves. 

310. practice : plot, artifice. 

321. tempered : compounded, mixed. 

327. chance : occurrence. 

328. mutes or audience to this act: dumb actors or dumb 
spectators. 

329. fell sergeant : cruel sheriff's officer. 

333-335. Horatio is about to drink off the poison, that he may 
die with Hamlet. But Hamlet tells him he must live and de- 
liver the truth about all that has happened. 

345. Absent thee from felicity awhile: ''Felicity" means 
the felicity of death — the "consummation devoutly to be 
wished." 

346. o'ercrows : triumphs over. 

349. dying voice : vote, opinion. 

350. the occurrents . . . Which have solicited : the events 
which have prompted me to give him my dying voice. 

351. The rest is silence. " Shakespeare's supreme touch is 
here." 

357. This quarry cries on havoc : this pile of dead cries out 
^or merciless revenge. 
' 358. toward : at hand, about to take place. 

360. dismal : always a strong word in Shakespearian usage. 

365. his mouth : i.e., the King's. 

368. jump upon : exactly in time for. 

374. Reference is made in this line to the murder of Hamlet's 
ither; in the next to the death of Polonius, and in line 378 to 
le execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. put on : in- 

igated. forced cause : Hamlet was forced to bring about their 
eath. 

377. in this upshot : in this conclusion of the tragedy. The 

upshot " in archery was the final shot, which decided the match. 

349 



Notes. Act V, Scene 2. 

382. rights of memory: rights which are still in people's 
memory. 

383. vantage : favorable opportunity. 

385. whose voice will draw on more : whose opinion (Ham- 
let's) will bring others forward in support. 
388. on : in consequence of. 

390. put on : put to the test, given opportunity. 

391. passage : death, departure. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. What is the meaning of Hamlet's opening speech? The 
significance of Horatio's reply? 

2. Explain the plan which Hamlet made to frustrate the 
schemes of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Write the letter 
described in lines 38-47. 

3. What should you judge, from his remark in line 56, to be 
the feeling of Horatio about the fate of the two courtiers ? 

4. Is Hamlet's rejoinder (57-62) an excuse or an explanation? 

5. You will note that Hamlet asks Horatio if it is not per- 
fectly right to take vengeance on the King, and that Horatio 
makes an evasive reply (63-72). How do you account for this? 

6. From the lines 63 to 74 should you say that Hamlet had 
formed any definite plan of revenge ? 

7. Comment upon Hamlet's remark: "I'll court his favors." 

8. What is Hamlet's idea in making fun of Osric? 

9. Does Osric seem to be an impossible character? Have 
you ever known any one who resembles him in any respects? 

10. What is the dramatic value of the whole interlude? 

11. Do you think that Hamlet has any foreboding of his fate? 

12. Is Hamlet sincere in his apology to Laertes? Laertes, 
in his reply? 

13. Make a plan of the stage setting for the duel scene. 

14. Do you see any sign of compunction in Laertes for the 
treacherous part he is about to play? 

15. What is the best way to effect the change of rapiers so 
that it will appear natural on the stage ? 



Act V, Scene 2. NoteS. 

16. Is the death of the Queen necessary from a dramatic 
point of view? 

17. Has Hamlet any suspicion, throughout the duel, of the 
plot against his life? If not, at what point does he realize the 
truth ? 

18. Can you explain why Horatio wishes to die with Hamlet? 

19. Write a note on the following lines : 

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, 
Absent thee from felicity awhile, 
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, 
To tell my story. 

20. Set the stage for the entrance of Fortinbras. 

21. In the first Act one of the characters said : *' Something 
is rotten in the state of Denmark." What glimpses of restored 
order and harmony are given at the end of the play? 

22. Was the vengeance of Hamlet accomplished through 
force of circumstances, or by deliberate planning on his part? 
In either case, how does the outcome illustrate his character? 



351 



SUBJECTS FOR ORAL AND WRITTEN 
COMPOSITION 

1. Shakespeare's Methods of Opening His Plays. 

[Study the first scenes in several plays — "Hamlet," "Macbeth," 
and "The Merchant of Venice," for instance. In what respects 
do these scenes form effective introductions to the respective plays?] 

2. Shakespeare's Skill in Character-Drawing. 

[What means does Shakespeare use to make his characters life- 
like? Look up passages that especially reveal the true personali- 
ties of Ophelia, Polonius, the King, etc.] 

3. The Minor Characters of the Play. 

[Discuss the parts played by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Mar- 
cellus, the First Clown, and Osric. Show how, though minor 
characters, they stand out clearly and are necessary to the plot.] 

4. References to the Bible in '' Hamlet." 

[Make a collection of all references to the Bible in the play. Note 
the circumstances and character of each. What conclusion do you 
draw as to Shakespeare's knowledge and use of the scriptures?] 

5. References to Mythology in " Hamlet." 
[Treat this subject similarly to the above topic] 

6. My Favorite Passages in " Hamlet." 
[Quote several and give reasons for your choice.] 

7. Less Important Scenes of the Play. 

[Imagine yourself a stage manager, and decide what scenes you 
would omit in your presentation of the play. Give reasons for such 
omissions.] 

353 



Subjects for Composition. 

8. A Character Sketch of Horatio. 

[Remember what Hamlet says to him in III. 2. 51-71. Find 
other passages which seem to indicate his personality.] 

9. The Ending of the Play. 

[Explain why the conclusion is satisfactory to you, or give sugges- 
tions for a different ending. Would it be possible, for instance, to 
have Hamlet triumph over his enemies and live? In other words, 
would you prefer a ''happy" ending?] 

10. Explain What Is Meant by " Dramatic Relief." 
[Illustrate by reference to scenes in I, II, III, and V.] 

11. Make a " Time-Analysis " of the Play. 

[What intervals ought to be allowed between the scenes and acts? 
What is the duration of the whole play?] 

12. Shakespeare's Use of Prose. 

[In the prose scenes either (a) the subject matter presents a marked 
contrast to that of the scenes that precede and follow, or (b) the 
tone of the scene is on a lower plane than that of the poetical scenes.] 

13. The Society Portrayed in the Play. 

[Does it represent an age of rude and untamed energies, as in 
"Macbeth"? Or a contrast between aristocracy and common peo- 
ple, as in "Julius Caesar"? Or an age of affectation and corrupt 
manners?] 

14. Hamlet as a Man of Action. 

[Are we too prone to regard him as a thinker only — a mere 
dreamer ? Look at another side of his character, as revealed in the 
play. He is the first to board the pirate ship; he works out in- 
stantly a definite plan of revenge upon Rosencrantz and Guilden- 
stern. Later, he saves Horatio by snatching away the poisoned 
drink; and by giving his "dying voice" for Fortinbras, he saves his 
country.] 

354 



Subjects for Composition. 

15. Compare Hamlet and Brutus. 

[They are said to have the following attribute in common : a 
tendency to philosophize ; high moral ideas, coupled with unfitness 
for prompt and vigorous action. What do you think?] 

16. Does Hamlet Stand Entirely Alone in the Play? 

[Can he trust to Ophelia in any emergency? Is his mother of 
any assistance to him? How far can he rely upon Horatio for ad- 
vice and comfort?] 

17. The Vengeance of Hamlet. 

[What opportunities arise for him to execute his plans of revenge? 
What plans has he ? How does he meet these opportunities ? What 
light is thus thrown upon his character ?] 

18. WasHamlet Really Mad? 

[This question opens one of the most fruitful sources of discussion 
in the whole play. What is your own opinion after a careful read- 
ing of the play? If it was real, how does he get such " method in his 
madness," as Polonius says? If it was assumed, what is his object 
in the pretense ?] 

19. The Personality of Hamlet. 

[Below are given three different views, by three famous critics. 
Read them carefully. Select the one which most nearly conforms 
to your own opinion and use it as basis for your theme.] 

"Hamlet does all that can be expected of the ideal hero of ro- 
mance, but his task is impossible. He is slow to find a way be- 
cause no way is to be found. Claudius is all-powerful and strongly 
entrenched and Hamlet has no evidence. The play is not the 
tjagedy of inefficiency, but of heroic endeavor in the face of in- 
superable obstacles." — Werder. 

"A simple act is required ... an act which a narrower man 
might perform straightway; but in Hamlet's mind such illim- 
itable vistas of speculation are opened up that his will shrinks be- 

355 



Subjects for Composition. 



1 



fore them. Though recognizing his plain duty, and though fever- 
ishly eager to do it, he cannot force himself to action. Thus he 
fritters time away in reflection and introspection, till at last he 
himself is involved in ruin, and dies the victim of his own paraly- 
sis." — Coleridge. 

" Hamlet is as little of the hero as a man can well be ; but he is 
a young and princely novice, full of high enthusiasm and quick 
sensibility. It is not from any want of attachment to his father 
or abhorrence of his murder that Hamlet is dilatory, but it is more 
to his taste to indulge his imagination in reflecting on the enormity 
of the crime and refining on his schemes of vengeance, than to put 
them into immediate practice." — Hazlitt. 

20. Ophelia. 

[Is her nature deep or shallow? If she really loves Hamlet, why 
does she lie to him (III. i. 130-131)? What causes her mind to be- 
come unhinged?] 

21. The Relations between Hamlet and Polonius. 
[Why does Hamlet dislike him? What does he think of Hamlet? 

How does Hamlet ''try him out" (II. 2, III. 2)?] 

22. Polonius on the Stage. 

[How should his part be acted? Describe what you think should 
be his make-up, voice, manner of walking, gestures.] 

23. The King. 

[Discuss his character, using the following suggestions : 
a. State-craft : opening speech, dealings with Norway. 
h. Tactics against Hamlet : early favor, changing in the course 
of the Play to cunning villainy (I. 2. 117, IV. 7. 128-162). 

c. Self-deception: temporizing with his conscience (III. 3). 

d. Skill in dealing with Laertes ( IV. 5, 7).] 

24. The Queen. 

[Is there evidence that she shared in the guilt of the King? 
(I. 5, HI. 2, HI. 4.) 

Has she a real affection for her son? (III. 4, IV. i, IV. 7. 11-12, 
V. 2. 302-303.)] 



Subjects for Composition. 

25. Hamlet's Friendship for Horatio. 

[How do you account for the deep affection between the two? 
Hunt up the various occasions in the play in which they are to- 
gether and base your conclusions on what you find.] 

26. Compare Claudius and Macbeth, 

[This is an interesting topic for those who have read both "Ham- 
let" and "Macbeth." Claudius is the more subtle of the two, and 
his scheming and plotting are in strong contrast to the rude and 
heedless force of Macbeth.] 

27. The Grave-diggers and the Porter. 

[Compare the Grave-diggers' Scene in "Hamlet" (V. i) with the 
Porter Scene in "Macbeth" (H. 3, first part). Try to show the 
serious purpose served by each in developing the action of the play, 
as well as its grim humor.] 

28. Speeches That Reveal Character. 

[Shakespeare shows the development of his characters by what 
they say and by what other people say about them. Bearing this 
in mind, select groups of speeches which seem to you to indicate the 
personality of some of the characters.] 

29. The Structure of the Play. 

["Hamlet," as you will have noticed, moves according to a defi- 
nite plan. We have, first, the Introduction, where the tragic note 
is struck by the evident nervousness and anxiety of the soldiers and 
by the entry of the Ghost; we learn that "something is rotten in 
the state of Denmark." Next come the Complication, the Climax, 
the Resolution, and the Catastrophe. The complicating action in- 
cludes the theory of Polonius as to Hamlet's madness; the plan of 
Hamlet to test the King's conscience by the play; the spying of 
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The Climax is reached when Ham- 
let's test proves successful and "the king rises"; it includes also 
the death of Polonius. The Resolution (the clearing up of the Com- 
plication) shows the beginning of the end : Hamlet and Fortinbras 
on their respective ways; the appearance of Laertes, the return of 

357 



Subjects for Composition. 



Hamlet, and the new plot against him; the Grave-diggers' scene. 
The Catastrophe includes the duel, when the entanglement is com- 
pletely ended and there is a glimpse of better times for Denmark. 

Compose a theme with these facts in mind. The following will 
serve for topics of the main subject : 

The Opening of the Play — indications as to its probable na- 
ture. 

The appearance of the Ghost and the revelations to Hamlet> 

The theory at Court as to Hamlet's madness. 

The coming of the Players. 

The Play (Act III). 

Hamlet's failure to kill the King. 

The King's plot against Hamlet and the latter's departure for 
England. 

Laertes and the King ; the return of Hamlet. 

The duel] 

30. Shakespeare's Opinions. 

[Can you find, in "Hamlet" and other plays that you have read, 
any indications of what Shakespeare himself thought on various 
subjects? For instance, in "Julius Caesar" there are some very un- 
complimentary references to the "rabblement," or mob (I. 2. 215- 
290); in "The Merchant of Venice" Arragon speaks of "common 
spirits" and the "barbarous multitudes" and the "fool multitude." 
Does Shakespeare put his own thoughts into the mouths of his char- 
acters? 

A certain poet, speaking of Shakespeare's sonnets, says : 

With this key 
Shakespeare unlocked his heart. 

Another poet replies : 

Did Shakespeare ? if so, the less Shakespeare he ! 

Read some of the sonnets,^ and see with which of the two poets 
you agree. Choose, for example, XXIX, XXX, XXXII, LVII, LX, 
LXIV, LXV, LXVI, LXXIII, XCIV, CIV, CVI, CIX, CX, CXVI. 

These are generally considered to be the best of the Shakespeare 
sonnets. Do you find in them a more personal note than in the plays ? 
1 See pages 21 1-2 12. 

358 



Subjects for Composition. 

IMAGINATIVE SUBJECTS 

[The following subjects call for imagination and originality as well 
as knowledge of the play itself. Some of them may be told in the first 
person in the form of a letter or journal. Others may well be written 
in dialogue, or as a short one-act play, which may then be presented 
by members of the class. In all of them, start with the facts and 
suggestions given by Shakespeare. Then use your imagination freely, 
though what you imagine should always be possible and the more 
probable the better.] 

31. Hamlet at the University of Wittemberg. 

[How would he employ his leisure? What studies would appeal 
to him? What would his friends be like? Horatio, Rosencrantz, 
and Guildenstern were his fellow students — what would have been 
his relations with them?] 

32. The Story of How They Did It. 

[Describe the murder of Hamlet's father. Decide, from exami- 
nation of evidence in the play, whether or not the Queen had any- 
thing to do with the actual murder.] 

33. A Day with Laertes in Paris. 

[You can make a very interesting theme by looking up informa- 
tion about life in Paris at the date of the play.] 

34. Ophelia Writes to Laertes. 

[Try to imagine the sort of letter she would write. She is affec- 
tionate, and she has a keen sense of humor (see I. 3. 45-51). Would 
she mention Hamlet ?] 

35. Polonius at Home. 

[What would he do, and what would he talk about in his own home 
— free from the cares and artificialities of Court life ? Remember 
that both Laertes and Ophelia are very respectful to him, despite 
the peculiarities which make us smile.] 

359 



Subjects for Composition. 

36. Talking over Hamlet. 

[Write, in dialogue form, the conversation between Rosencrantz 
and Guildenstern after the King has commissioned them to spy on 
Hamlet. As we see them in the play, neither possesses much 
strength of character. What sort of plan do you suppose they would 
concoct ?] 

37. The Fight with the Pirates. 

[Tell the story of the fight which Hamlet refers to in his letter 
(IV. 6. 12-30). Explain how he happejied to gain the goodwill of 
the pirates.] 

38. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern " Go to It." 

[An account of the events following the escape of Hamlet from 
the ship. Tell how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrived in Eng- 
land with the altered letter, and what happened to them there.] 

39. '' Poor Yorick." 

[Read Hamlet's half pathetic and half affectionate remarks about 
Yorick (V. i. 183-194). Then imagine Hamlet as a child, playing 
with the Court Jester.] 

40. The Grave-diggers Dig Four Other Graves. 

[A difficult theme subject. Can you imagine their conversation 
as they prepared the graves for Hamlet and the three others ? Read 
over carefully the first part of Act V.] 

41. Horatio Tells Fortinbras the Story of Hamlet. 
[Read again V. 2. 332-342, 372-379? and tell the story as you 

imagine it would be told by Hamlet's best friend. Use dialogue 
form. In which portions of Horatio's story would Fortinbras be 
most interested?] 

42. ''My Switzers." 

[See IV. 5. 80. Hunt up references to tjie Swiss Guard in his- 
tory. Write a theme embodying what you find, with special refer- 
ence to "The Lion of Lucerne."] 

360 



Subjects for Composition. 

43. Shakespeare's Political Tendencies. 

[Can you find any evidence as to his personal opinions in the plays 
that you have read? Is he more interested in noble personages, or 
in the "common people"? 

The following scenes portray two types of character — the "rus- 
tic," and the well-bred and educated. Which of the two types 
seems to you the more lifelike? Disregard the fact that the "no- 
ble" personages speak in blank verse, and try to grasp the character- 
drawing. 

"A Midsummer Night's Dream," I. 2; III. i. 1-78. 

"The Merchant of Venice," I. i. 56-104. 

''Macbeth," II. i. 1-64. 

"Julius Caesar," I. i. 215-290; II. i. 1-85; III. 2, 3. 

44. Some of Shakespeare's " Fools." 

[Write a theme comparing or contrasting the "Fools" in any plays 
with which you are familiar. You may consider, for example, the 
First Clown in "Hamlet," Touchstone in "As You Like It," Launce- 
lot Gobbo in "The Merchant of Venice," the Porter in "Macbeth," 
the Cobbler in "Julius Caesar," Feste in "Twelfth Night."] 



361 



GLOSSARY OF DIFFICULT OR UNUSUAL WORDS 



The words are brought together here for the convenience of the 
student. Most of them are discussed more fully in the Notes. 



absolute: precise. 

abstract : summary, epitome. 

abuse : deception. 

access : approach. 

addition: reputation. 

admiration : astonishment. 

advanced: successful. 

aery : eagle's or hawk's nest. 

affection: passion. 

affront: meet directly, con- 
front. 

against : just before. 

aim: guess. 

amiss : mischief. 

anchor: hermit. 

annexment: appendage. 

anon : suddenly. 

answered: explained. 

antic : foolish, fantastic, 

appointment: equipment. 

apprehension: perception, un- 
derstanding. 

apt : quick, ready. 

argal: clown-Latin for ergo, 
therefore. 

argument: subject. 

arras: tapestry. 

arrests : legal restraints. 



article: (i) document, I. i. 94; 

(2) value, V. 2. 117. 
aspect : appearance, 
assay: (i) proof, trial, II. 2. 

71; (2) tempt. III. I. 14. 
assigns : accompaniments. 
assume : acquire. 
assurance : security. 
attribute : reputation. 
audit : final account. 
avouch : proof, testimony. 

barred : excluded, failed to 
consult. 

barren: foolish. 

beaver : face-guard of a hel- 
met. 

beetle : hang over. 

bent : inclination. 

bespeak : address. 

bestowed : lodged, placed. 

beteem: allow. 

bias : inclination to one side. 

bilboes : iron fetters, used on 
board ship. 

bisson: blinding. 

blank : blanch. 

blazon ; proclamation. 



363 



Glossary. 



blench : start. 

board : speak to, accost. 

bodkin : small dagger. 

bound : ready, prepared. 

bourne : boundary. 

brainish: brain-sick. 

bravery : ostentation, bravado. 

brazed : hardened. 

breathing: whispering. 

broad : unrestrained. 

brokers : go-betweens, negoti- 
ators. 

bruit: noise abroad. 

bugs : bugbears, terrors. 

buttons : buds. 

buzzers : whisperers, tale- 
bearers. 

candied : sugared, flattering. 

canker : canker-worm, that de- 
stroys buds. 

canon : divine law. 

canonized: buried with the 
rites of the church. 

capable: (i) able to receive, 
III. 2. II ; (2) susceptible, III. 
4-125. 

cap-a-pe : from head to foot. 

capital : important. 

card . directory, index, guide. 

carriage : purport. 

cast : (i) surface coloring, III. i. 
85 ; (2) " cast beyond " : be over- 
suspicious, II I. 112. 

cataplasm : poultice, plaster. 

cautel : craft, wile. 

cease : death. 



censure : opinion. 

cerements : graveclotihies, 

shroud. 
chapless : lacking the lower 

jaw. 
character: (i) inscribe, I. 3. 
59; (2) handwriting, IV. 7. 51. 
charge : expense. 
check: leave its proper prey 

to follow another. 
cheer: fare, 
choler: anger. 
chopf alien : " down in the 

mouth." 
chopine : a kind of shoe with 

a thick sole. 
churlish : harsh, rude, 
circumstance : circumlocution, 

detail. 
clepe : call, name. 
climatures: regions, country, 
closely : privately, secretly. 
closet : private apartment. 
coil : turmoil, trouble. 
collateral : indirect. 
color : give excuse for. 
commerce : intercourse. 
complexion: temperament, dis- 
position. 
conceit : thought, imagination, 
concernancy : meaning, point, 
conclusion : experiment. 
condolement: mourning. 
congrue : agree. 
conjunctive : closely united, 
conjure : beg, implore. 
conscience : knowledge. 



364 



Glossary. 



consonancy : agreement. 

constantly: steadily, firmly. 

contagion : poison. 

continent : that which con- 
tains. 

contraction : marriage contract. 

contriving: plotting. 

contumely : insult. 

conversation : intercourse. 

coted : passed by, outstripped. 

couch : hide. 

count : accounting, trial. 

counter : in the wrong direc- 
tion. 

cozen: cheat. 

crants : garlands for a maid- 
en's funeral. 

crowner: coroner. 

cry: pack (of hounds), com- 
pany. 

cue : hint, motive. 

curb : bend, bow. 

curiously : fancifully. 

dally : waste time. 

dear : used of anything that 

touches deeply. 
defeat : destruction. 
defeated . marred, disfigured. 
delate : convey, intrust. 
delivered : told, narrated. 
delver: digger. 
denote : mark, portray. 
differences : personal qualities. 
dire : deadly. 

disappointed: unprepared, 
disclose : outcome. 



discovery : disclosure. 
dispatched: deprived. 
distemper: disorder. 
distilled : transformed. 
distract : distraught, deranged. 
document: lesson. 
dole: grief. 
douts : extinguishes. 
down-gyved: hanging like fet- 
ters. 
drossy : mixed with impurities. 

eager : biting, sharp. 

ecstasy : excitement, madness. 

effects : actions. 

eisel : vinegar. 

emulate : jealous. 

enactures : resolutions, enact- 
ments. 

encumbered: folded. 

entreatment: conversation, in- 
terview. 

envious : evil. 

escoted: paid. 

espials : spies. 

eteme : eternal. 

even: (i) plain, honest, II. 2. 
282; (2) fellow, V. I. 28. 

exception : dislike. 

excrement: hair. 

expostulate : converse, expound. 

express : exact, well-formed. 

extent: behavior. 

extravagant : wandering beyond 
confines. 

eyases : unfledged hawks, nest- 
lings. 



36s 



Glossary. 

faculty: ability. 

falls : happens, falls out. 

fantasy : imagination. 

fardels: burdens. 

farm: rent. 

fashion: form. 

favor: (i) attractiveness, IV. 5. 
170; (2) look, appearance, 
V. I. 193. 

fay: faith. 

fee : land held as private prop- 
erty. 

feelingly : with insight. 

fell : cruel. 

fellies : pieces making the rim 
of a wheel. 

fetch : stratagem. 

flaw : gust of wind. 

flourishes : ornaments. 

flush: self-confident. 

flushing : redness. 

followed : popular. 

fond: foolish. 

fordo : destroy. 

forgery : imagination, inven- 
tion. 

free : innocent. 

fretted : adorned, ornamented. 

function : bodily activity. 

fust : grow moldy. 

gain-giving : misgiving. 
gait : proceeding, advance. 
garb : outward fashion. 
gentry : courtesy 
german- akin. 
gib: tom-cat. 



1 



gorge : stomach. 

grace : honor. 

gracious : blessed, benign. 

green : inexperienced, foolish. 

gross : obvious. 

grunt: groan. 

gules : red. 

gulf : whirlpool. 

gyves : fetters. 



happily : perhaps. 

harbinger : forerunner. 

hatchment : coat of arms hung 
up as a sign of the death of 
the owner. 

haunt : publicity, company. 

head : armed force. 

health: welfare. 

heat : anger. 

heavy: sad. 

hectic: fever. 

hedge : encompass, protect. 

hent: grip. 

heraldry: designs. 

heyday : wildness, wanton- 
ness. 

honest: pure. 

hoodman blind : blindman's 
buff. 

hugger-mugger : secrecy. 

humor: disposition. 

husbandry : thrift. 

impartment : communication. 
impasted : made into a paste, 
implorators : solicitors. 
imponed : staked, wagered. 



366 



Glossary. 



imposthume : abscess. 

impress : forced labor, im- 
pressment. 

incapable : unable to under- 
stand. 

incorrect : unsubmissive. 

index : prob^ue. 

indifferent : ordinary, aver- 
age. 

indued : suited, adapted to. 

infected : poisoned. 

infusion : essential qualities. 

ingenious : intelligent. 

inheritor : possessor. 

inhibition : prohibition, restraint 
by law. 

inoculate : graft. 

instances : motives, induce- 
ments. 

inumed : buried. 

investments : garments. 

jealous : suspicious. 
jig : comic ballad. 
jocund : joyous. 
jowls : knocks about. 
jumpy : exactly, precisely. 

keep : dwell, 
kettle : kettle-drum. 
kibe : chilblain. 
landless : unnatural. 

larded: garnished. 
lazar-like : like a leper, 
lenten : meager, 
lets : hinders. 



levies : lists, muster-rolls. 
liberal : free-spoken. 
liegemen : followers, retainers. 
lightness : lightheadedness. 
limed : caught, as with bird 

lime, 
list: (i) number, I. i. 98; (2) 

border, IV. 5. 82. 
loggats : a game in which small 

logs are thrown at a "jack." 

main: (i) chief cause, II. 2. 56; 
(2) chief power, IV. 4. 15. 

mained : incomplete, shortened. 

mart: traffic. 

matin : morning. 

mazzard : head, skull. 

meet : fitting, proper. 

merely : entirely. 

miching: secret. 

milch: soft. 

mobled : muflfled up. 

model : copy. 

modesties : reservations, sim- 
plicities. 

moiety: portion. 

mole : blemish. 

mountebank : quack-doctor. 

mows : grimaces. 

muddied : thick and unwhole- 
some. 

muddy-mettled : irresolute, slug- 
gish. 

murdering-piece : cannon for 
firing case-shot. 

mute : silent actors. 

mutines : mutineers. 



367 



Glossary. 



naked : unarmed. 
napkin: handkerchief. 
native . kindred, related. 
nature : natural affection. 
nave : hub, center. 
nerve : muscle, sinew. 
noyance : harm, injury. 

obsequious : funereal. 
occulted: concealed, hidden. 
occurrents : occurrences, events. 
o'er-raught : overtook. 
o'erreaches : gets the better 

of, outwits. 
o'ersized : smeared over, as 

with glue. 
omen : fatal sign. 
opened : revealed. 
operant: active. 
opposed : opponent. 
opposite: (i) obstacle. III. 2. 
204; (2) opponent, V. 2.62. 
ordinant : ruling, guiding. 
ordnance : cannon. 
organ : means, instrument. 
orisons : prayers. 
ostentation: pageant. 

packing : going off in a hurry. 
paddock: toad. 
pajock : peacock. 
pall : prove useless. 
palmy : glorious. 
pardon : leave to depart. 
parle : parley, conference. 
partisan: long spear, halberd. 
parts : qualities, attainments. 



pass : thrust. 

passage : death. 

passion : strong feeling. 

pate : head. 

peak : mope, be irresolute. 

peculiar : individual. 

perpend : ponder. 

petar: bomb. 

picked : refined, dainty. 

pioner : military engineer, sap- 
per. 

pith : importance. 

plausive : plausible. 

play: fence. 

plurisy : fullness of blood. 

politic : statesmanlike. 

politician : plotter, schemer. 

porpentine : porcupine. 

possit : thicken, curdle. 

posy : motto on a ring. 

practises : plots, stratagems. 

precurse : omen, warning. 

pregnant : quick, ready. 

prenominate : before-men- 

tioned. 

present : immediate. 

pressures : impressions. 

primy : spring-like. 

probation : proof. 

process : course of events. 

progress : royal journey in 
state. 

pronounce : speak on. 

proof: trial. 

property: quality. 

proposer : orator, speaker, 

pursy: pampered. 



368 



Glossary. 



push: test. 

put on: (i) told to, I. 3. 94; 

(2) set on, IV. 7. 131, V. 2. 

376; (3) tested, V. 2. 390. 

quaintly : artfully, cleverly. 

quality : actor's profession. 

quarry : game killed. 

question : conversation. 

questionable : inviting discus- 
sion. 

quick : alive. 

quiddities : subtleties. 

quietus : a quittance given on 
settling an account. 

quillets : frivolous distinctions. 

quit : requite. 

quoted : noted, marked. 

rack : mass of cloudSc 

range : roam freely. 

ravel : loosen. 

razed : slashed open. 

reck : care for, mind. 

recorder : a kind of flute. 

rede : counsel, advice. 

reechy: stinking. 

region : air. 

relative : pertinent, to the point. 

relish : smack. 

replication : reply. 

requiem : hymn for the dead. 

retrograde : contrary. 

rivals : partners, associates. 

robustious : sturdy. 

romage : bustle, turmoil. 

rood: cross. 



round : plain-spoken. 
rouse : deep draught. 
row : stanza, verse. 
rub : obstacle (in bowling). 
ruled : listen to reason. 

sable: (i) black, I. 2. 241, 

II. 2. 442; (2) sable fur, 

IV. 7. 80, III. 2. 117. 
sallets : spiciness, indecencies 
sanctuarize : protect. 
sans : without. 
sate : satisfy. 

saws : maxims, wise sayings. 
'Sblood: by God's blood. 
scarfed : flung on like a scarf. 
sconce: (i) head, V. i. 100; 

(2) conceal. III. 4. 4. 
scrimer: fencer. 
season: (i) temper, qualify, 

I. 2. 191, II. I. 28; (2) ripen, 

I. 3. 81, III. 2. 192, III. 3. 

86. 
secure : unsuspicious, careless. 
seized of : possessed of. 
sensible : able to be perceived 

by the senses. 
sensibly : keenly, feelingly. 
shark up : pick up anyhow. 
shent : put to shame. 
shrewdly : keenly, bitterly, 
siege : rank, position, 
simple : silly, weak. 
simples : medicinal herbs, 
sith : since. 

sledded : riding on sleds, 
sore : heavy, grievous. 



369 



Glossary. 



spill : destroy. 

splenitive : passionate, hot- 
tempered. 

springes : snares. 

station : attitude, pose. 

statist : statesman. 

sterling : sound currency. 

still : always, constantly. 

stithy : anvil, forge. 

stomach: courage, resolution. 

stoup : drinking- vessel, flagon. 

straight : at once. 

strike : exert evil influence. 

stuck: thrust. 

sudden : unprepared. ' 

suit : request. 

supervise : looking over, read- 
ing. 

suppliance : amusement, enter- 
tainment. 

swounds : swoons, faints. 

table : memorandum tablet. 

take : infect, bewitch. 

target: shield. 

tarre : set on to fight (like dogs). 

tend : wait. 

tender: (i) offer, I. 3. 99, 103, 

106; (2) show, I. 3. 109; 

(3) take care of, I. 3. 107, IV. 

3- 41- 
tenders : promises. 
tent : probe, search. 
tetter : thickening of the skin. 
thought : melancholy, brooding. 
tickle : easily moved. 
tithe : tenth. 



topped : surpassed. 

touches : implicates. 

toward : at hand, in prepa- 
ration. 

toy: (i) fancy, freak, I. 4. 75; 
(2) trifle, IV. 5. 18. 

trick: (i) adorn, II. 2. 447; 
(2) trifle, IV. 4- 61; (3) 
habit, IV. 7. 187. 

tropically : metaphorically. 

truant : roving, wandering. 

truepenny : honest fellow. 

tyrannically : extravagantly, ve- 
hemently. 

umbrage : shadow. 

unaneled : without extreme 
unction. 

unbated : not blunted. 

uncharge : fail to accuse. 

unction : ointment. 

unfold : reveal, disclose. 

unhouselled : without the Sac- 
rament. 

union : a fine pearl. 

unkennel : disclose. 

unpregnant of : unquickened 
by, indifferent to. 

unreclaimed : untamed. 

unsifted : untried. 

unvalued : without high rank. 

use : habit, custom. 

vailed : lowered, downcast. 
valanced : fringed (with a 

beard). 
validity : value, effect. 



370 



Glossary. 



vantage : favorable opportunity, 
vast : waste, void. 
ventages : windholes, stops, 
virtue : power, efficiency. 
voice : vote. 

wake : revel by night. 
wann'd : paled. 
wanton : spoiled child. 
warrantise : warrant, guaran- 
tee, 
wassail: revelry. 



watch : wakefulness. 

weal : welfare, safety; 

weeds : garments. 

wharf : bank. 

whisper : rumor, report. 

wholesome : sane. 

windlasses : windings, subtle 

stratagems. 
wit : wisdom. 

yaw: stagger. 
yesty: frothy. 



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